The Triforce United
by Ryuutsu Seishin Hime no Argh
Summary: Discontinued.
1. A Prologue

Welcome, welcome. Well this is it, my first Zelda story. Hope you all like it. Anyway there are a few things I'd just like to clear up before we start. First of all, this story takes place four years after the fall of Ganondorf, and Link was never changed back to a child. It just works better this way for my story, I hope no one minds. Let's see, what else...Zelda's family is dead and she's now queen of Hyrule...I think that may be all I wanted to mention. Oh and Majora's Mask never happened. That's like an alternate reality anyway so I don't think this bit of information's going to make much of a difference, but just so you know.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or any of its related characters and concepts. I do own the following characters, who will appear later in the story...  
-Naziri  
-Maeve  
-Carlita  
-Mara  
-Rajeh   
-Antaq  
-Juniper  
And there may be more, because I haven't finished the story yet. Only a couple of the above aren't minor characters, so I guess it doesn't matter that much...  
  
Well, I think that's all I have to tell you. Hope you enjoy the story, and please review! Flame me, critique me, tell me the story was good, whatever. I love me some reviews. ^.^  
  
  


**The Triforce United**  


  
  


A Prologue  


  
_It was night, and a storm was raging. Link stood on a vast plain that could only be Hyrule Field, facing the tumbled wreck of Hyrule Castle. Link frowned. That wasn't right. The remains of the Hylian people, under the direction of Queen Zelda, had begun reconstruction of the Hylian Palace and castle town after Ganon's castle was destroyed. It was four years since the fall of Ganondorf, and Hyrule was nursing its wounds, recovering, and rebuilding the glorious kingdom that once existed, with the help of Zelda and Link. So why was the castle a wreck again, with stormy clouds hanging over it?  
  
As Link stood puzzling, it occurred to him that this could be a dream. That possibility made more sense than anything else, so Link decided to simply wait. The Hero of Time was prone to foreboding nightmares. If there was a message to this, it would reveal itself to him eventually. If not, then Link supposed he'd wake up soon.  
  
Lightning flashed across the dark, cloudy sky, and still nothing happened. Link was beginning to feel uneasy. The ominous feeling hanging over this dream was hard to ignore. Usually such an ominous feeling meant something bad was going to happen soon. Link remembered the first time he'd felt it, when having nightmares as a young boy. In his nightmares, he'd seen Impa sprinting a young Zelda from the castle, Ganondorf in pursuit. Just a few months later, the dream had come true, Link had been imprisoned in the Temple of Time, and fall of Hyrule had begun.  
  
Link thought he ought to complain to whoever gave such dreams about the unclear messages of them. When at last his nerves were stretched to the last point, his body and mind screaming at him to do something, he heard the sound of soft footsteps behind him.  
  
The Hero of Time whirled, groping for a sword that wasn't there. Before him stood a short, thin young man about his age, clad in blue Sheikah's garments. Wrappings partially covered his golden hair, the color slightly lighter than Link's own hair. Red eyes glittered over a makeshift mask.  
  
Link frowned. He knew this young man well, who wasn't a man at all.  
  
"Sheik?" he demanded. He further frowned, correcting himself mentally. His...no, her name was not Sheik, it was Zelda. Wasn't it?  
  
Link felt very confused. He looked up and met the stranger's calm eyes, and was even more confused. "Who are you?" he demanded at last. "Are you Zelda, or not?"  
  
Sheik ignored the question. "The currents in the river of time are changing." He met Link's eyes. "Can't you feel it?"  
  
Link frowned. The words sounded like Sheik's. In the time before the fall of Ganondorf, when Link had traveled from temple to temple, Sheik had appeared every now and then to say such words and teach him a song. He's worse than a dream, in that way, Link thought wryly.  
  
But the voice was wrong. It was definitely a female voice, but it was not Zelda's. How can that be? Link puzzled. Zelda is Sheik.  
  
"There is another role that you are destined to play," Sheik continued. "Zelda has a role in these future events as well, an important one. You must keep her safe, Hero of Time."  
  
"What's happening?" Link demanded. "Can't you give me something a bit more clear?"  
  
"I cannot," Sheik told him calmly.   
  
Link scowled. "Then at least tell me whether or not these future 'changes' of yours are good or bad," he said.  
  
Sheik regarded him silently for a long moment. Finally he pointed to Link's right hand. Link glanced down; he held the Master Sword. The dark blade hummed as if ready for battle.  
  
"You will need that sword," Sheik told him. "Carry it wherever you go." He began walking away backwards, his eyes never leaving Link's.  
  
"Wait a minute," Link cried. He wanted to run after the Sheikah, but his feet seemed stuck to the ground.  
  
Sheik shook his head. "There is no time. Heed what I have told you." He waved a hand, his voice sounding distant now. "Time to wake up."  
_


	2. The Disappearance

Me: Hi again. Thanks so much to all who read and reviewed my story, it's greatly appreciated. I think the best part about being an author is finding out that people like your work. So this Chapter 2. It's quite a bit longer than Chapter 1, but hopefully not too long. The problem with this story is that when I wrote it, I made all of the chapters pretty long, but I'm going to try and slice them all in half so that my readers aren't overwhelmed. *Sigh* Back to thinking up cool chapter names. I wonder if-  
  
Link: Oh, stop babbling and get to the story!  
  
Me: o.o? Where did you come from?  
  
Link: I popped in to say hello.  
  
Me: Ah...okay...err...let's get to the story, shall we? This starts directly after Link's dream. Enjoy!  
  


***  


  


The Disappearance  


  
  
Link bolted upright, his eyes flying open. What was that about?   
  
He passed a hand over his blue eyes, taking a deep breath. So it had all been a dream. He was at his campsite on a hilltop in the middle of Hyrule Field, not far from Lon Lon Ranch. The sun was shining brightly in the cloudless blue sky, almost directly overhead. Had he really slept this late? He frowned. Everything certainly looked normal. So why couldn't he shake the feeling that everything wasn't?   
  
Something nudged his back, and Link yelled, startled. Behind him the something gave a loud whicker and jumped back, clearly surprised as well. Link relaxed, smiling a bit, and turned to see his pretty mare, Epona, staring at him uneasily.   
  
"Sorry, girl," he whispered, stroking her reddish-brown muzzle. The horse whickered softly, tossing her white mane, and butted his chest gently.  
  
Link's fairy Navi darted around his head suddenly. "A little jumpy this morning, aren't we?" the fairy squealed wickedly. "How come?"  
  
He made a face at her and stood up, stretching stiff muscles. "Bad dreams, I   
guess."  
  
Navi darted up into the sky, flew around in a circle, then zoomed back down. "Someone's coming," she said.  
  
Link frowned. He could feel it now, in the vibrations under his feet- hoovebeats, from several horses. He walked forward a few steps and saw them crest the hill within moments, a small group of Hylian soldiers.  
  
They drew their horses up shortly. "Master Link!" one of them called. "Your presence is required at the castle- we have an emergency!"  
  
Link scowled, all senses alert. He knew something felt wrong, and these soldiers were clearly upset. "What's going on?" he demanded even as he quickly threw his camp together and loaded it on Epona.   
  
"It's Her Majesty," the soldier who had spoken before said. "She's...errr..."  
  
Link swung into Epona's saddle, already sick with fear for Zelda. "What's happened?"  
  
The soldiers glanced at each other uneasily. "Well, she's...missing," said the first soldier.  
  
"She's what?!" he bellowed.   
  
"You'd better come with us," another soldier said. "Her Majesty's handmaidens can explain better, I think."  
  
The soldiers wheeled their mounts and took off at a hard gallop for the castle. Link slapped Epona with both heels and she raced after them, catching up quickly. It was less than an hour's ride to the Hylian Castle, shorter at such a fast pace, a ride Link and the soldiers spent in grim silence.   
  
At last the castle came into view, looking well and whole. Construction was still in process on a couple of the eastern towers. The castle was built in the design of the original, which had been first remodeled and then destroyed in the dark days of Ganondorf. Zelda, who'd assumed the throne as Queen of Hyrule after Ganondorf's fall, had insisted upon building the new castle on the site of the old one, despite rumors that the ground was cursed. She had asked Link to help her rid the castle grounds of any remaining monsters before construction began, a task he had completed gladly. It pleased him to help try and bring the remains of the Hylian kingdom to glory again, especially with such a wise, dedicated queen to rule it.  
  
Now, faced again with the castle, he was filled with foreboding. The soldiers and Link raced across the lowered drawbridge, through the bustling castle town, and up the long road to the palace. Hylian Palace was truly a glory to behold, its walls and towers shining in the bright noon sunlight.  
  
Link and the soldiers dismounted at the palace's gates and entered without hesitation. A walk through a marble-tiled corridor led them to a great foyer bigger than Lon Lon Ranch, normally empty save for a few chairs and tables along the walls. The walls themselves were decorated with large, shimmering mirrors and portraits of Hylian rulers, including Zelda herself. A glorious staircase, polished oak covered with red carpet, rose up from the marble floor.  
  
The foyer today was nowhere near empty, but brimming with soldiers and various palace workers. All of them were milling aimlessly or conferring in hushed, tense voices.   
  
Link spotted Zelda's personal handmaiden, a tiny, sweet woman named Carlita, staring up at the queen's portrait, her enormous brown eyes worried. Her hair was a reddish-brown, her looks simple and pretty. Link left the guards and approached her. She glanced at him and turned, looking immensely relieved.  
  
"Master Link! Thank the goddesses you're here." She sank into a curtsy.  
  
"Please don't do that, Carlita," he told her. "And call me Link. What happened to Zelda?"  
  
Carlita shook her head, her brown eyes overbright. "I don't know. When Her Majesty didn't show up for breakfast by the ninth hour, I was gettin' worried. She's usually up with the sun. So I went to check on Her Majesty, but there wasn't no answer when I knocked. I entered her chambers, and..." Carlita took a deep breath. "Her Majesty was gone. We searched the entire palace and the castle grounds and the surrounding field. She's nowhere to be found."  
  
Link paced back and forth a few steps, thinking hard. "Did she leave any clue as to where she might have gone? A note, or-"  
  
"Nothin'," Carlita interrupted. "We searched everywhere, as I said."  
  
"Oh..." He was silent for a few moments. "Did any of the guards notice anything suspicious last night? Someone on the grounds who shouldn't have been there?"  
  
Carlita shook her head. "I questioned all the guards. They didn't see nothin'."  
  
Absently Link said, "Could you show me to her chambers, please, Carlita dear?"  
  
She led him past the guards and through a great many long hallways and up wide staircases. There were people milling all over the palace, but none questioned Link's presence. They knew him as well as they knew their queen, and all knew that Zelda had long ago granted Link free run of the castle.  
  
At last they reached Zelda's chambers, guarded by a wary group of soldiers. Carlita opened the door and stood aside for him to pass. "I'm waitin' out here," she said. "I have to talk t'the guards."  
  
Link nodded and entered Zelda's chambers. The bedroom was the main part of it, with little rooms off to the sides that were a workroom, a privy, and a dressing room. Link stared around his friend's bedroom, searching for any clues to her disappearance. There was but one that he spotted- the window was open. Still, that might not have been a clue at all. The previous night had been hot and sticky. Possibly Zelda simply wanted some fresh air.  
  
He went over the room with careful scrutiny. Everything was untouched and perfect. It looked as though no one had been in this room at all. Even the bed was neatly made.  
  
"Carlita!" he called through the open door. "Did you make the bed, or open the window in here?"  
  
"No, sir," she called back. "Everything was left as was."  
  
Link frowned. That meant Zelda hadn't even slept in her bed last night...except possibly on top of it. He turned to move into the workroom, but something caught his eye...a brown corner of something poked out from under the bed.  
  
He dropped to his knees and carefully drew the something out. It was a wooden chest, gilded with black iron. The chest was wide open, the silver key still in its slot.   
  
"Carlita! Would you come in here, please?"  
  
She appeared at his side in moments. "What does the queen keep in this chest, Carlita?" Link asked. "I found it under the bed."  
  
Carlita frowned, and he could see the gears turning in her mind. "I ain't positive, but I think..." She pursed her lips, then continued. "It holds a costume, sir, a Sheikah's garments, I believe."  
  
Link smiled slightly. "A male Sheikah's garments?" he pressed.  
  
The woman nodded. "Mm-hm. I don't know for the life of me why Her Majesty keeps them clothes. It's not my place to ask, though, so I don't."  
  
Link nodded. "I think I may have figured some of this out," he announced. "Would you just do one more thing for me, Carlita?" She nodded readily. "Could you go through the queen's wardrobe and tell me if any other garments, whether it's a dress or a pair of gloves, I don't care...if anything at all is missing?"  
  
"Of course, Master Link," she replied and bustled off to the wardrobe.  
  
"Just Link," he called after her, but she didn't answer. Smiling a bit, he went out to talk to the queen's personal guards, the ones stationed outside her door.  
  
"Does Zelda ever use or carry any weapons?" he asked them. "Have you ever seen her with one?"  
  
The head of the guards, a fierce old devil who bore his spear like it was an extra body part, replied, "I seen Her Majesty once, with a sweet dagger I'd be proud to own, holdin' it in like she was a regular warrior. And I tell you somethin' else, I think she knows how to use it."  
  
Link smiled. He had seen first-hand Zelda with a dagger, when they were clearing the castle grounds of Ganondorf's monsters, and the guard was right- she knew how to use it.  
  
"Is there a weapons room or anything where the dagger rests?"   
  
The guard pointed. "Down the hall and up a floor, it's right next to the stairs. None of us thought to check it, though." He frowned.  
  
Link was already going. He went up the staircase at the end of the hall and spotted it on his left. He entered the room, filled with glass cases of beautiful knives, daggers, swords, throwing stars, spears, even a pair of scimitar blades. He looked in the case of daggers. There was exactly one missing.   
  
He smiled and looked around again. There were a few throwing knives missing, and a weapons belt had also been taken off the wall. Piecing together this information with the big puzzle, he went back downstairs to Zelda's chambers.  
  
Carlita was there waiting for him. "I checked the wardrobe as you wanted," she announced. "There's not even a shoe missin'...just the garments from the chest."  
  
Link nodded. "Thank you, Carlita," he said sincerely. "You've been a great help."  
  
He looked around again, mulling it all over. He was almost certain Zelda had disguised herself as Sheik and run away. Apparently she had taken the knives and the dagger with her. Why she had gone, Link could never explain. It simply made no sense. Zelda was a queen completely dedicated to her kingdom; why would she leave it now? Unless she thought she was in danger here, in Hyrule...what was it that Sheik had said?   
  
"The currents in the river of time are changing...Zelda has a role in these future events. You must keep her safe, Hero of Time..."  
  
But if Zelda really was in danger, why would she run away without telling anybody? Why would she run without telling Link?  
  
Link didn't know the answer to those questions. He did know, however, that he had not gotten where he was in life by ignoring dreams. If what Shiek had told him last night was really a glimpse of the future, then there was no way Link couldn't heed the warning. What was at stake here? The future of a kingdom, maybe of the world...and Zelda's life.   
  
He made a decision. "I'm going to address the people in the foyer, Carlita," he said. "Would you announce me, please?"  
  
Carlita obliged and led the way to the foyer. Stopping at the top of the glorious staircase, she announced, as perfectly as a professional herald, "To address the palace guard and workers on the matter of Her Majesty Queen Zelda, I present Master Link, the Hero of Time!"  
  
The crowd fell silent at the impressive announcement and looked up to them as Carlita stepped aside for Link. After a whispered thanks to her, he faced Zelda's people.  
  
"My fellow Hylians, Her Majesty Queen Zelda is indeed missing," he began, and paused expectantly. A murmer went through the crowd, but nothing more. "I have reason to believe that she was kidnapped from her bedroom last night. I also believe I know where she has been taken. Therefore, I leave tomorrow to find her and bring her back."  
  
A cheer went up at these words, but some of the guards had objections. "A   
company of the queen's guard should be with you!" one soldier shouted. "One man is not enough to-"  
  
"You forget that this is not just one man!" Carlita bristled to Link's defense. "He is the Hero of Time, and more than capable of finding Her Majesty on his own. We need the queen's guard here, to protect the castle grounds!"  
  
"She is right," Link said. "I assure you, I can find Queen Zelda without help. I will find her." There was a dangerous glint in his blue eyes as he said this, and not one person dared to doubt him.  
  
When no further objections were raised, Link turned to Carlita. "Thank you for your help. I really would prefer to do this on my own."  
  
She frowned at him. "Why'd you tell 'em Her Majesty is kidnapped? I know you don't believe that."  
  
Link nodded and said quietly, "I think Zelda may have run away. I was reluctant to tell these people such a thing. They have such faith in her." He sighed. "I don't know why she ran away."  
  
Carlita touched his cheek gently. "I have faith in Her Majesty, too," he said firmly. "I know that she had a good reason for goin', whatever it was. She'd never desert us if it was avoidable."  
  
Link grabbed her hand and kissed it gallantly. "It's so nice to know that Zelda has such friends like you," he said, grinning at the furiously blushing Carlita.  
  
She waved off the compliment. "You'd better get moving, if you're to leave for her tomorrow." She eyed him. "Do you know where to go?"  
  
"Oh yes," he lied smoothly. He knew Carlita didn't believe him, but if she wasn't saying anything, he was happy.  
  
***  
  
After leaving the palace, Link went to the restored Temple of Time. He entered slowly, trying to keep quiet, but it was no use. The temple was so marvelously silent that every footstep sounded like the roll of thunder.  
  
He stopped before the alter, on which the three Spiritual Stones resided. He paused there for a moment, then went past the alter and through the Door of Time...into the room where the Master Sword once lay.  
  
Link simply looked upon the Master Sword's pedestal for several long moments. Then he dropped to his knees before it, and prayed to anyone of the goddesses that might be listening, especially Farore. He held Farore's Triforce of Courage inside of him, so if anybody would listen, she would.  
  
Then he left the temple and went back to Hyrule Field, to sleep and hope that his prayers would be answered.  
  
***  
  
_In his dream, Link stood not in Hyrule Field, but in the Temple of Time again before the alter. He walked past it and into the room containing the Pedestal of Time...and found Sheik waiting for him, in front of the pedestal.  
  
"You may ask me one question tonight, Hero of Time," Sheik told him, "and I will answer it to the best of my knowledge."  
  
"Where did Zelda run to?" Link demanded instantly.  
  
Sheik blinked his calm, red eyes. "I thought you might ask that. Very well, Hero of Time. Queen Zelda, the Seventh Sage, has run away to the land of Pinnasi, south of the Haunted Wastelands and over the Pini Sea. It is a large island containing much untamed land."  
  
"Then where on the island is Zelda?" Link asked.  
  
Sheik shook his head. "That cannot be determined. She hides on the island of Pinnasi, but she continues to move from place to place, hiding her trail."  
  
"Oh..."  
  
"Go to find her," Sheik ordered. "The goddesses will tell you what to do,   
once you have."  
  
Link looked at him, and suddenly thought of something he hadn't before. But before he could voice his thoughts, Sheik continued.   
  
"Heed these insutructions from Din, Farore, and Nayru. Do not make it public knowledge that you are the Hero of Time. Be mindful of your feelings. And keep your friends close to you...you will need them, in the events to come." Sheik began walking away backwards, his form fading. "Luck to you, Hero of Time."_  
  
***  
  
Link opened his eyes and stared up at the pale sky over Hyrule. He sat up and looked to the east- the sun was just rising over Death Mountain. He got up and quietly broke his camp, loading onto Epona again. He mounted the horse and took a last look at Hyrule Castle, wondering how long it would be until he saw it next.  
  
Navi zipped up from somewhere to hover next to his ear. "Where are we going, Link?" she squeaked.  
  
Link stroked Epona's white mane. "South," he said quietly. "Past the Haunted Wastelands to the Pini Sea, and then on to the island of Pinnasi."  
  
"What place is that?" Navi demanded. "I've never heard of it."  
  
Link smiled as he turned his faithful mare, prodding her gently with a toe. "It's where we'll find Zelda. Sheik told me she was there."  
  
Navi exclaimed loudly at that, but Link had already ridden off.  
  


***  


  
Me: Hm...what could possibly await Link in this weird island called Pinnasi? Well I guess there's only one way to find out!  
  
Link: Please stop narrorating.  
  
Me: *pouts* Fine. I see how it is. Well, be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter, it's coming soon!  
  
Link: See, now you're just advertising.  
  
Me: Oh, shut up!


	3. At Pinnasi

Me: So now we come to Pinnasi. Pretty little island South of the Haunted Wastelands and across the Pini Sea. Hey, did anyone catch my little joke? Pini Sea? Pinnasi? See the simliarity? ^.~  
  
Link: That's a pretty sad joke.  
  
Me: Well excuuuuse me, Mr. Sense Of Humor. Okay, maybe it was a bit weak...  
  
Link: Or very weak...  
  
Me: On to other topics! So Link arrives at Pinnasi and has no idea where to go next, until everybody's favorite Sheikah shows up and tells him he's on the right track...  
  
Link: In a dream, of course.  
  
Me: Of course.  
  
Link: You're so predictable.  
  
Me: I know. Enjoy!  
  


***  


  


At Pinnasi  


  
  
The sun shone warmly on the tropical island of Pinnasi, but the breezes from the sea were cool and refreshing. Pinnasi was a beauty of an island, a place ringed with white beaches and green water. The capital of the kingdom of Meji-Rae lay a tall cliff overlooking the ocean and harbor. The city itself was a colorful, prosperous center for all manners of trade and commerce. The harbor, unfortunately, drew many a criminal and crowd of drunken louts.  
  
Such was the crowd observing the lastest tourists and merchants to dock in Pinnasai. Warily did the newcomers step off the boat, hiding their goods as best as they could manage. Only one traveler did not bother with this. He was a young, golden-haired man, seated on a reddish-brown mare and brimming with weapons.  
  
The attention of the crowd was drawn to the rider. He was dressed simply in a green tunic, grey leggings, and soft brown boots. A green sort of cap covered most of his hair, except for some golden strands that fell into his blue eyes. The hands clutching the reins of his pretty mare wore an archer's leather hand and wrist guards.   
  
The crafty louts of Meji-Rae harbor were not fooled by the man's simple appearance, however. His pretty mare was decked in an embroidered tack, and every weapon he carried, from the dark silver blade and colorful shield on his back to the fine bow and quiver brimming with arrows signified either wealth or great fortune. Several members of the crowd wondered aloud if the rather thin man could even handle those weapons, especially the mighty blade.  
  
The young man grinned, overhearing them. He drew the sword and flipped it over a couple of times in his hand, then swung it around a bit. He sheathed it and looked at the crowd with raised eyebrows. Liking his reaction, the loiterers parted to let him and his pretty mare through.  
  
Navi darted to her charge's side. "I looked at the harbor and the city on the cliff," she squeaked, zipping back and forth in her excitement at being in a new place. "If you take that road to the left, it gets to the city eventually, but the traffic is slow."  
  
That much was obvious. Tourists, merchants, and thieves alike moved in a steady but slow stream up on the road up the cliff on which Meji-Rae City stood. Link guided Epona carefully, keeping an eye to their belongings as they merged with the crowd.  
  
"I hope we get up there soon," he grumbled. "This sun is killing me. I didn't realize it shone so hard on this island."  
After nearly an hour of slowly milling their way along the cliff road, Link, Epona, and Navi finally entered the city gates. Meji-Rae City was a lovely maze of buildings and domed towers, all made of a white, sun-bleached stone. The city gates opened onto a sprawling market, where merchants and soliciters bartered their goods under colorful awnings. The temperature up on the cliff was comfortable, thanks to cool breezes from the ocean.  
  
Link studied his hands as Epona picked her way prudently through the crowd. "If Zelda is in a place like this, we'd never find her," he said worriedly. "There must be hundreds of thousands of people in this city."  
  
Epona flicked an ear back and forth, listening. Navi said, "Don't forget, you've got me. I can help you track her."  
  
Link smiled slightly. "How's that?"  
  
Navi darted back and forth, a sign that she was irritated. "I can smell magic, you know that. Zelda's got the Triforce of Wisdom in her. That's some of the greatest magic in the world. If she were anywhere near us, I would know it."  
  
Curiously, Link said, "Well? Is she anywhere near us?"  
  
"Let me go look around," Navi muttered. "It's hard to get a reading of her magic with this many people. I'll search the whole city, then I can tell you."  
  
Link nodded. "Okay."  
  
"I'll be back in a little while," she squealed, and flew off.  
  
***  
  
At least he didn't have to wait long. He sat a table under a red awning, watching the barterers with Epona. It was not even an hour before the report came back- Zelda was nowhere in the city.  
  
"That's fine," he muttered as he hefted his bags onto Epona again. "At least we don't have to waste any more time here."  
  
"Anxious to get away from civilization?" Navi said with mock sympathy.  
  
He made a face at her. "Actually, yes." He mounted the horse with a sigh. "Honestly, I don't think there's any point in searching any more cities. I doubt Zelda's going to be in them."  
  
"Why?" the fairy asked curiously as Link prodded Epona with a toe.  
  
He shrugged. "If you wanted to hide, would you go to a place where you might attract attention?" he asked. "In a port-city like this, where they get all sorts of outsiders, she might go unnoticed. But anywhere else, I'd think that someone would recognize her as a stranger." He smiled a bit. "Are there any Sheikahs on this island? I seriously doubt it. Her costume isn't so great out here. It's too foreign."  
  
"Okay, fine," Navi grumbled. "Now how 'bout, instead of rambling about where we _aren't_ going to find her, let's talk about where we _are_."  
  
Link pointed to a small bookshop on their left. "I'm going to get a map. Then we'll see."  
  
***  
  
The bookkeeper was was a tiny, wizened old man who had a tendency to watch Link suspiciously when he wasn't dealing with other customers.  
  
"Do you have any maps?" Link asked him pleasantly after a few minutes of poking around.  
  
The old man's eyes narrowed. "Ehh...and what weel ye be payin' wiv, then?"  
  
Link smiled a bit. He knew that in his plain tunic and leggings, and the weapons   
outside with Epona and Navi to watch them, he didn't look like much.  
  
"I've got rupees," Link offered, wondering if they took Hyrule's currency here.  
  
"Ehh..." the bookkeeper said again. He gave Link another suspicious look and went behind his counter, which was taller than him. He emerged a few moments later with a rolled-up parchment in his hand, which he handed over to Link.   
  
"That theer's a map o'the island. Is that what yer lookin' for, then?"  
  
"Yes, thanks," Link said, unrolling the parchment and gazing at it.  
  
A few moments later his eyes snapped back to the bookkeeper. "Where are the cities? The kingdoms?"   
  
The old man snorted. "Eh...ye must be an outsider, then. Theer's no respectable cities on thees island, other than the city which I stand in." He stamped a foot on the floor for emphasis.  
  
Link frowned. "Isn't there any civilization other than this one kingdom?"  
  
The bookkeeper stood on his tiptoes to peer at the map. A shirveled finger poked at it. "Look 'ere...ye take thees road t'the south and ye'll come across life." A scowl crossed his face. "But 'tis nothin' but a few scattered towns 'ere and theer." The scowl grew. "Are ye goin' ta pay for that map, or no? I've got other customers to deal wiv." A hand was ejected, palm open. "'Tis fifteen rupees."  
  
Link paid him and left.  
  
***  
  
Nightfall found Link on Epona's back, riding away from Meji-Rae City as he studied the map. Navi perched on his shoulder, casting her light onto the map so he could see it. Night was very dark in this land. The moon seemed far away, but the stars were bright. Some of them, incredibly, sat directly on the horizon. Looking out over the ocean, Link realized he couldn't see the barrier where sea met sky.  
  
They were riding along the cliffs over the white beaches of Pinnasi, heading south on a desterted road. It seemed as if all life was back in the port-city of Meji-Rae. The only sounds Link heard were the occasional calls of gulls on the beach and Epona whickering softly every now and then.  
  
Truth be told, Link rather preferred the silence. A life spent mostly alone was the life he was used to.  
  
He traced a path on the map with his finger. In the northwest corner of the island a side-by-side square and star marked the port and capital city of Meji-Rae. Judging by the scale on the map, after about two days ride Link would reach the border of the kingdom. After three or four days of following the western coastline across broad plains, he would enter a hilly country.  
  
A dot in the middle of the hilly country marked an unlabeled town. South of that was a mountain range and a desert.  
  
East of the desert was a twisted line that the map marked as the Sacred River. By following the river north one would reach the Great Forest, and if he headed west from there, he'd find himself in Meji-Rae again. There were exactly two markings on the map to indicate civilization.  
  
Link sighed and rolled the parchment up. He supposed his best bet was to follow the coastline south until he reached the untitled town, and hopefully find some information there.  
  
"I thought you said Zelda probably wouldn't stay in a public place," Navi squeaked after Link told her this.  
  
"I know," he said, "but supposing she just passed through there, maybe somebody would've spotted her. I think the best thing to do is follow the coastline all the way around, back to Meji-Rae. If I haven't found any clue of her by then, I can always explore the middle regions of the island."  
  
Navi agreed.  
  
They continued riding through the night and into the day, but around mid-afternoon, a storm blew in from the coast and Link's party was forced to take cover in a cave in the cliff walls. Once inside the dark, damp cave, a wave of faitgue rushed over Link. How long had it been since he slept last? His movements slow and automatic, he unfolded a blanket from Epona's back, curled up in it, and went to sleep.   
  
***  
_  
In his dream, Sheik's quiet eyes were worried.  
  
"There's an evil stirring," he told Link.  
  
"I know," Link replied. Amazing how he was already used to talking to a dream figure. "I can feel it. But I don't think it's going to affect me. Not yet."  
  
"No," Sheik agreed. "This evils stirs in a place you have left behind. For now."  
  
"Hyrule?" Link demanded, suddenly afraid for his homeland.  
  
Dark, red flames shot up, surrounding the Sheikah. He looked around. "See? It begins already." His voice was calm. He held up a hand, showing Link the glowing, red triangle in it- the Triforce of Power. "This causes trouble yet again. It is the barrier that changes the flow of time...yet again."  
  
"My old friend, the Triforce of Power," Link muttered dryly. It was that Triforce from which all his troubles had sprung. The day that Link had gone to the Temple of Time as a boy to retrieve the Master Sword, Ganondorf had been waiting. The moment Link pulled the sword from its pedestal, the twisted Gerudo king had shoved Link aside and entered the Sacred Realm, where he'd seized control of the Triforce of Power. After Ganondorf's fall, when the Power had gone into the void with him, Link had thought he was free of troubles caused by that Triforce. Apparently, he was not.  
  
"Can't the goddesses put the Triforce of Power somewhere where no one can get to it?" Link demanded. "I don't understand why they left it with Ganondorf in the void."   
  
Oddly, there was obvious surprise present in Sheik's eyes. "Perhaps they never thought of that."  
  
"Perhaps if they would have put the Triforce of Power somewhere safe in the first place," Link snapped, "Ganondorf's rise to power would have never occured."  
  
Sheik regarded him carefully. His voice was wry when he said, "Poor Link. You know so much, yet so little."  
  
As Link was certain that Sheik wasn't going to go any further on that, he didn't ask. Instead he demanded, "Am I close to finding Zelda?"  
  
"You're on the right track," Sheik replied. "Maybe you should keep going the way you are. You might be surprised at what you find."  
_  
***  
  
When Link woke, the sun was shining through the narrow entrance to the cave and everything was damp.   
  
Groaning as he stretched stiff muscles, Link roused himself and swung into Epona's saddle, intent on riding a bit more before he stopped to eat.  
  
"Did I ever mention I hate dreams?" Link asked Navi.  
  
Navi, who already knew from Link exactly who'd been showing up in his dreams, squealed, "What did he say this time?"  
  
"The usual," Link grumbled. "Some confusing jumble about how evil is rising again, aided by my dear old friend the Triforce of Power."  
  
_"Really?"_  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They rode along the beach for a while before finding a path back up the cliff, where Link stopped to let Epona graze and eat something himself.  
  
They settled into a basic routine of riding during the day, with stops to eat, and resting at night. Link did not dream again about Sheik during that part of his ride south, but always when he slept, he felt that sense of foreboding tugging at the back of his mind.  
  
After about four days of riding, Link and his companions entered the hilly country. Their path took them away from the sea, a little bit inland toward the town marked on the map. The rolling hills were covered in tall grasses, dotted here and there with scarse trees and thorny bushes- a completely untamed land. The hills were inhabited by hundreds of birds, small herds of deer here and there, rodents, foxes, wildcats, and all sorts of animals, but not one person.  
  
Link and his companions saw no sign of any sentient life at all until six days of riding had passed. On the seventh day, they found the town on the map at last, which was inhabited by the very last people Link expected to find.  
  


***  


  
Me: Well golly, who could these people be? Read the next chapter to find out!


	4. The Sheikah Village

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-_  
  
You'll probably think I'm all crazy for saying this, but I love that the upload chapter feature is no longer available. Why? Well, simply because when you upload new chapters, your fanfic doesn't automatically move to the top of the list, so people don't even know that you've added chapters to your story. Therefore they don't read it, and therefore they don't review it.  
  
But now the upload chapter feature is gone and I have to do this separately, chapter by chapter. That's fine with me, I have no problem. If you're a new reader, however, I strongly suggest you look up my name in the author's directory, find The Triforce United, and read the first three chapters. The events of this chapter follow the previous three, of course.  
  
Enjoy, and please review!  
  


*** **  
  
The Triforce United  
  
*****  


  


**Chapter Four: The Sheikah Village**  


  
Link gaped around in amazement. The town marked on the map was much smaller than he had expected to find. It was a village set in a scoop below the hills, on a grassy field with a tiny stream running through it. The houses in the village were small and simply made of gray stone and clay. And the people, who were one by one abandoning their various work to stare at the newcomer in their midst, were Sheikah.  
  
Link had met only one true Sheikah in his entire life before this point. She was Impa, Zelda's former handmaiden and the Sage of Shadow. Yet Link was positive that these people were also Sheikah. They wore traditional Sheikah garb, complete with the tunic-like garment that had the symbol of the Eye of Truth embroidered on it. Their eyes were mostly dark, their hair mostly pale-colored. They all watched Link in that silent, unnerving way, as if seeing into his very soul.  
  
The Sheikah were a very mysterious people. Almost nothing was known of their history. In Hyrule, the Sheikah clan had always prided themselves as the protectors of the Royal Family. But Impa was the last of them, wasn't she? The Sheikah were believed to be a dead people.  
  
But these Sheikah didn't look very dead. Link was astounded. Pinnasi was absolutely the last place he'd've expected to find a Sheikah clan.  
  
A small crowd of them were now forming protectively in front of their village. Many hands were resting on dagger hilts. One thin, wiry man with very pale blonde hair approached Link and stopped a safe distance from him.  
  
"Who are you?" the man demanded.  
  
Link didn't want any trouble with these people. He dismounted Epona and held out his hands in a gesture of peace. "My name is Link. I'm a traveler from the north, and I'm seeking someone."  
  
"And you decided to look here for him, is that it?" the man demanded harshly. "We've nothing to find here."  
  
"I saw your village marked on a map of the island, you see," Link said politely. "I thought to come here and ask if anyone has seen the person I'm seeking. I didn't mean any trouble."  
  
Something in the man's eyes flickered. Link noticed the same flicker in many of the dark eyes of the silent, watching crowd. "Who are you seeking, then?"  
  
Link hesitated, unsure of how much of the truth he should tell. "A man named Sheik. He disguises himself as one of you...but he is truly not."  
  
Again something passed through the man's eyes. The Sheikahs were said to be adept at hiding any secret, but Link couldn't help thinking that Zelda, who was not a true Sheikah at all, was much better at it than this man.  
  
"Have you seen him?" Link asked, feeling as though he was gaining the upper hand now.  
  
There was a definite hesitation before the man answered. "No." His eyes met Link's, and now he looked angry. "We've nothing for you to find. Take your horse and leave this place, now, before trouble starts."  
  
When Link stood his ground, an ominous murmur went through the crowd. He ignored it. "I'll not be threatened," he warned, holding the man's dark gaze with his own. "I did not come here looking for trouble. But if I'm given any, I'll do what I must to defend myself."  
  
Link saw the Sheikah's eyes shift from the mighty sword on Link's back, to the   
multitude of weapons on his belt and Epona's back. The man looked unsure after a careful examination of the weapons, and Link smiled thinly.  
  
But the Sheikah were not about to back down. Bristling now, the crowd moved toward Link, but suddenly a voice, deep and commanding, rang out.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?!"  
  
The crowd parted quite suddenly in unison, revealing a tall, middle-aged woman in traditional Sheikah garb. Her muscles were well-toned, her body wiry, her expression even as she gazed upon Link. Her eyes were black, her silver hair braided and piled on top of her head.  
  
She approached Link and the interrogating Sheikah man. Her eyes shifted to the man, and she looked annoyed.   
  
"Go to your house and think about controlling your temper," she snapped. "It doesn't do us any good to war with every outsider who comes along."  
  
The man nodded and left without argument. Apparently this woman was some sort of authority in the clan.  
  
She turned to face the rest of the watching crowd. "Stop gawping and go back to your work, all of you," she commanded. "I will deal him." She indicated Link.  
  
The crowd departed silently, and the woman turned to face Link, her expression thoughtful. "Who are you, outsider?"  
  
"Link, of Hyrule," he told her, hoping that this woman didn't intend any trouble.  
  
"Will you come to my house and talk with me, Link of Hyrule? You can leave your mare here. The others won't bother her."  
  
"Of course," Link replied, wondering if he had a choice in the matter. The woman turned on her heels and led the way to one of the stone-and-clay houses in the middle of the village. As they walked, Link sensed dark eyes watching him from every angle. It was very unnerving.  
  
The Sheikah woman's house was clean and simply furnished with a bed and a wooden table and chairs, all in the same room. A fire roared in the great stone hearth, and bundles of pretty-scented herbs hung from the ceiling. The woman directed Link to a seat at the table and took a copper kettle off of the hearth.  
  
"Tea?" she offered him gravely.  
  
"Yes, thank you," Link answered, although he couldn't help wondering if the woman planned to posion the drink.  
  
He soon realized that was silly. The woman took pounded herbs from the same packet and placed them in both cups, filled with the boiling water. She took the cups to the table and handed one to Link, and, as if she sensed his suspicion, drank first.  
  
When nothing happened to her, Link felt embarassed. He took a sip from his own tea, noting the spicy flavor.  
  
"This is very good," he remarked, and the woman smiled.  
  
"I'd offer only the best, especially to you," she said. "It is a great honor to have the Hero of Time in my house."  
  
Link jumped to his feet, nearly upending the tea cup. "You know who I am?" he gasped.  
  
"Of course," the woman said calmly. "We Sheikah know many things, including what happened to our cousin in Hyrule, the one you rescued from the Shadow Temple."  
  
Slowly Link sat down again. "I didn't realize you'd know all that."  
  
"We honored the Hero of Time when we heard what he had done in Hyrule," the Sheikah woman told him. "Believing him no less than a god, we sacrificed to him and asked him to visit our daughters."  
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
The woman's smile was wry. "Only we were unaware of how very human the Hero of Time is. Perhaps we would not have made that mistake, if my sister were not the Sage of Shadow. We believed only a god could rescue a sage."  
  
"Wait a minute...then you mean...Impa? Your sister?"  
  
"Yes," she replied calmly. "I am Mara." She took another sip of her tea.  
  
Wondering if this woman would ever cease to astound him, Link said, "I didn't know Impa had a sister." Looking at Mara now, he realized that the resemblance between her and Impa was quite noticable.  
  
"One does not expect such a young man to know a great many things, even if he is the Hero of Time." Mara smiled.  
  
Link shook his hair out of his eyes and took another sip of his tea. The drink seemed to have a soothing effect. His voice calmer now, he said, "I knew Impa even before I rescued her from the Shadow Temple. But I never saw her with another Sheikah."  
  
Mara nodded. "I was born in Hyrule, with my sister. But I found that a life with no other Sheikah around besides my sister was no life for me. Impa had a job to be proud of, as handmaiden and bodyguard to the little princess of Hyrule. But I left when I was about your age and sailed south to Pinnasi, where I became headwoman of this Sheikah clan." She smiled.  
  
Link hesitated. Then he said, "I'm looking for someone."  
  
"Yes," Mara agreed. "You seek Impa's former charge, the one who disguises herself as us."  
  
"You know Zelda?" Link felt as though he'd used up all of his surpirse already that day.  
  
"Indeed." Mara took a sip of tea, then continued. "Zelda of Hyrule stumbled upon our village, disguised as one of us. But we Sheikah know who is our cousin and who is truly not. When I told Zelda that I am Impa's sister, she revealed her true identity to me."  
  
"When was she here, and how long did she stay?" Link demanded.  
  
"She came about a week ago. She stayed for only a few days. I think she was afraid to stay any longer." Her eyes met Link's. "She gave me a message to memorize. For you."  
  
"What is it?" Link whispered.  
  
Mara closed her eyes, recalling. "She gives her greetings. She knew you would pursue her when she was discovered missing, and she knew that somehow you would come to this island to find her." She opened her eyes and regarded Link gravely. "She gives her apologies, but she cannot wait for you anywhere. She must keep moving, she says. She is headed south along the coast, and she hopes that you will meet at some point."  
  
Link simply nodded. He was silent for several long moments, digesting this information. Finally he said, "Thank you, Mara. You have no idea how much you've helped me."  
  
Mara waved a hand. "Don't thank me. I'm but the messenger." She looked at Link soberly. "You should go now, before you lose her trail. And besides-" her voice was apologetic "-my cousins do not appreciate your presense here, I'm afraid."  
  
"I gathered that much," Link said dryly, rising and offering a hand.  
  
The Sheikah rose as well and grasped his hand in a firm grip. "Luck to you, Hero of Time. I hope your path crosses Zelda's."  
  
"So do I," Link said quietly, and took his leave.  
  
***  
  
The Sheikah let him go without any trouble, obviously happy to do so. Even as he rode away, Link sensed those dark eyes, always watching.  
  
"They're a very strange people," Link told Navi, who had appeared only after they had left behind the trouble in the village.  
  
"No stranger than you," Navi squeaked. "Why do they stare like that all the time?"  
  
"They watch all," Link said quietly, "therefore they know all."  
  
"You make it sound as though they're spirits," Navi told him, unimpressed.  
  
He laughed slightly. "Who's to say they aren't?" Link asked, studying his hands. "They're that mysterious. They seem to know things they shouldn't, all the time. Maybe they aren't normal people."  
  
"Zelda knew things she shouldn't have, when she disguised herself as Sheik," Navi   
pointed out, "and she's not a real Sheikah."  
  
Link smiled. "But she's not a normal person, either," he reminded his fairy.  
  
***  
  
It seemed as though the rolling hills would never end. Link and his companions rode through them for days and days. Sometime during the journey, it occured to Link to mark their trail on the map. He traced a dotted line from Meji-Rae to the Sheikah village and added a bit more to the line each day.  
  
He also tried to piece together what he knew, but unfortunately there was not much of that.  
  
"If my dreams are true," Link mused out loud as Navi and Epona listened, "that means Zelda really did run away because she fears for her life. She knows some kind of trouble's brewing, too. But she must know more than me, because she'd never leave her kingdom if it were just a feeling."  
  
"Maybe the goddesses told her to go," Navi suggested.  
  
Link glanced at her. "I don't know about that," he said frankly. "It'd have to be a very great danger for the goddesses to be involved, wouldn't it?"  
  
Navi zipped back and forth in an irritated way. "Wake up, Link," she ordered. "Who do you think's been sending you those dreams?"  
  
"No way," Link said, but he was already doubtful. "They've never spoken to me."  
  
Navi darted around his head, her wings buzzing angrily. "How did I get stuck with   
someone so thick-headed?" she demanded. "Listen- the goddesses have always spoken to you. Why do you think you have foreboding nightmares? Coincidence?" When Link was silent, she added, "You do hold a piece of their Triforce."  
  
"Fine," he said stiffly. "The next time Sheik shows up in my dreams, I'll just ask him if he's one of the goddesses."  
  
"Fine," Navi growled.  
  
Epona whinneyed softly, as if telling them to stop fighting.  
  
***  
  
After almost a week of traveling, they finally left the hilly country. This gave Link no cause to celebrate, however. The next part of their journey was a rocky path that would take them over sky-scraping mountains, but Link's sturdy mare was able to pick her way through them steadily.  
  
The mountains did not worry Link so much as what lay ahead. If Link's map was accurate, they were in for several days ride through the desert. He could only hope it would not be as bad as the Haunted Wastelands back home.   
  
Worried about their supplies, Link filled every water-skin he had and packed his stores with as much food as he could find. But the presense of the looming desert was ever-daunting.  
  
One day, Link crested a mountain cliff on Epona and saw before him a vast sea of white sand. The wind shifted forebodingly so that a bit of sand was thrown into their faces, as if giving the travelers a taste of what was to come.  
  
Relentlessly Link set them on a course that would hopefully take them through the desert as quickly as possible. When Navi wondered aloud why they did not just go back to the mountains and head eastward north of the desert, Link pointed out that the harsh land might be Zelda's current hideout.  
  
Eight slow, agonizing days passed in the desert. Sandstorms sprung out of nowhere to tear their skins dry while the desert held no place for shelter. Link saw bodies of men and animals stripped of their flesh, reduced to nothing but piles of bones, scattered about the forsaken land. When, on the fourth day, Link and Epona had already consumed all of their water rations, Link strung up a canvas on poles and played the Song of Storms. Blessed rain fell for a night, but in the morning, they discovered that the canvas had collapsed.  
  
Link grimly strung up the canvas again and replayed the song. This time he sat by the canvas all night, collecting the water in his skins when the canvas was becoming too heavy. By morning he had two skins full of fresh rainwater, with enough left in the canvas for Epona to lap up eagerly.  
  
Four more torturous days passed. Navi, who needed no supplies such as food or water, did her very best to keep Link and his faithful mare going. Soon Epona was foaming at the mouth, a result of the harsh air and too little water. On the seventh day of traveling, their water ran out yet again. Link reused the canvas and the Song of Storms in an effort to gain more water, but, as if to tease him, a strong wind came with the rain and the canvas was knocked over again and again. By the time morning came and the rain ended, Link had barely half a skin of water.  
  
He gave it all to Epona and asked his mare to try and keep going. The loyal mare carried him all day and kept going into the night.  
  
Navi found it first. She'd been flying far ahead of them, trying to spot some help anywhere, in any form. Somewhere around midnight she darted back to Epona and Link, dancing everywhere in her excitement.  
  
"An oasis!" she squealed. "An oasis, just an hour's ride from here!"  
  
Epona kept going relentlessly. If she or her rider had any doubts, they were soon relieved. In less than an hour they spotted the dark break in the vast whiteness.  
  
The oasis was filled with lush trees and plants, with a sparkling pool in the middle of it. Link and Epona stumbled directly into the water and went to sleep sitting in it, with Link's head resting on the bank.  
  
He woke up the following night feeling chilled. He scrambled out of the water, shivering and cursing himself for forgetting how cold the desert was at night. Epona, already awake, was greedily munching every plant she could find. Alarmed, Link ran to her and dragged her away from the clump of grass she was chewing.  
  
"Stop that," he said sharply. "You can't eat so much already after eating so little."  
  
Epona hung her head and whickered softly, promising not to eat any more that night. She and Navi strongly insisted that Link eat something, however, which he was only too glad to do.  
  
*** 


	5. Gerudo Sister

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself..._  
  
This is one of my favorite chapters in _The Triforce United,_ mostly because it introduces one of my favorite characters, Naziri. You've got to bring in a new main character when you're writing one of these stories. Naziri is one of the better characters I've created. I love her because she's very spunky and free-spirited. But enough with my bragging. ^_^;  
  
I don't own Zelda or any of its related characters and concepts. All that belongs to the brilliant Shigeru Miyamoto-san. On with the story...  
  


***  
  
**The Triforce United  
  
*****  
  
Gerudo Sister  


  
Link and Epona spent three days in the oasis, recovering their strength. At a rare moment when he wasn't distracted by food and water, Link noticed a small speck on the horizon in the east, silhouetted against the rising sun.  
  
"There's something out there," Link told his companions. "I think that when we leave the oasis, we'd better head there. I want to try and avoid an episode like _that._" He indicated the desert they'd just crossed with a dark scowl.  
  
So when they left the oasis at last, it was night again, and Epona carried Link eastward toward the speck on the horizon. The speck grew larger and larger as the hours passed, and by the time the sun had just risen, Link and his companions found themselves right in front of it.  
  
It appeared to be some sort of city, surrounded by a high wall made of red clay and desert sand. A break in the wall revealed a tall, open wooden gate some dozens of feet behind it. A sign was strung over the gate.  
  
Curiosity soon got the better of Link. Leaving Epona and Navi in front of the clay wall, he ventured past it and toward the gate, studying the sign above him as he walked. It had no words on it, only a picture of a star and an elongated crescent moon, side by side.  
  
Link frowned, trying to remember where he'd seen that sign. There was something about this entire setting that was very familiar to him, but his weary mind couldn't figure it out.  
  
Then suddenly it came to him._ That's a Gerudo sign!_ Link thought triumphantly, and just as suddenly, he realized what that meant. His first impulse was to run, but it was too late- a Gerudo woman to his left was staring right at him.  
  
Link's hands flew to his bow, knowing as he did so that it was no use. The woman had spotted him, and any moment there would come the order to halt and he'd find himself in a Gerudo jail cell. He cursed himself for not noticing her before. She was standing right at the gate.  
  
But moments passed and she continued to only stare at him. He studied her curiously, wondering why she was motionless. She wore the traditional belly-revealing top and full, soft leggings that all Gerudo wore, her garments a vivid crimson. Tiny, pointed slippers covered her tiny feet, and she held in one hand a glaive that was the favored weapon of the Gerudo. She looked about Link's age.   
  
Her skin was very tan, a product of living in the desert for years. Her hair was a flaming red, like all Gerudo's. Glittering green eyes regarded him carefully. Had she _winked?_  
  
Link stared at her, astounded and unsure of what to do. A knowing smile spread slowly over the young Gerudo's face. Grinning broadly, she turned away from Link, toward the clay wall next to the gate. With her back turned, Link could see that her vivid hair was worn unusually long, in an ankle-length braid decorated with a pretty gold ornament on the end.  
  
When several long moments had passed and the woman was still, Link tiptoed carefully past her. Through the gate was the sprawling Gerudo fortress, a large area of land with the actual fortress in the middle. The structure was made of dark clay, built so it looked like blocks resting together in one big, low pile. The clay-and-sand wall surrounded the entire stretch of land.  
  
Link took a few careful steps into the fortress, wondering if perhaps this Gerudo clan was a bit more lenient than Hyrule's. His theory was instantly disproved.  
  
"Hey, you! Stop!"  
  
Link sighed and halted in his tracks. The order came from a purple-clothed Gerudo warrior who wore an expression to rival a lion's. Her eyes were dark brown, her red hair worn short. She ran to Link and gave him a sharp poke with her glaive.  
  
"Just what do you think you're doing here?" she demanded fiercely.  
  
Link cast around for an explanation, but his tired mind was not functioning properly. "Uh...just...passing through?"  
  
The woman scowled. "Just passing through, huh? Do you walk through walls, then?"  
  
Wearily, Link pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Maybe I...um...needed a drink of water?"  
  
"I'll give you a drink of water," the woman growled, "in your jail cell. NAZIRI!" she bellowed suddenly, startling Link.  
  
He was even more startled when Naziri turned out to be the Gerudo at the gate. She ran to them, her long braid flying behind her, then stopped and leaned on her pole arm. "Yes, Rajeh?" she panted.  
  
Rajeh gave Link another poke with the glaive. "Did you know that this _man_ just walked right through the gates?" she demanded angrily. "Where were you when that happened?"  
  
Naziri's green eyes flickered to Link, then back to Rajeh. "I was...um...getting a drink of water."  
  
Rajeh rolled her eyes skyward, obviously exasperated. "Is _everyone_ here dehydrated?" she demanded of the sky. "Or is it just that the competent guards are more disciplined?"  
  
There was a long silence. Naziri looked stunned and hurt. Link glanced back and forth at the two women, wondering if this was about to get ugly.  
  
It didn't. Rajeh scuffed a toe against the dirt and said, "Look, I'm not implying anything. But I'm very disappointed that you'd leave the most important post in the entire fortress." She sighed and looked at Link, and the scowl reappeared on her face. "You take him to the guard cells, and I'll get someone else to watch the gate. I have to get back to my post."  
  
Without another word, she turned on her heel and marched away.  
  
Naziri stared after her, and said softly, "I am a competent guard. But in Din's name...what is there to _guard?_"  
  
Link couldn't stop himself. "Why did you let me pass the gate?" he asked curiously.  
  
Naziri grimaced. "I was bored," she confessed. "I wanted to stir things up a bit. We hardly ever get outsiders here." She looked at Link apologetically. "I suppose it was a stupid thing to do. I should have warned you away."  
  
"Don't say that," Link said dryly. "If you'd warned me away, I'd've never met the Old Lion over there." He indicated Rajeh's dim form.  
  
Naziri giggled. Then her expression grew sober. "Well, c'mon. I have to take you to the guard cells." She poked him gently with her glaive.  
  
She escorted him into the block fortress and through dozens of rooms and corridors, past legions of guards who were very generous in their hostile looks toward Link. If any of them were surprised to have an outsider in their midst, they asked no questions.  
  
At last Naziri led him to a large squarish room with a cell set against the far wall. Torches burned in the corners of the room, and there was exactly one window set in the ceiling.   
  
"In there, outsider," Naziri said, waving her glaive toward the cell.  
  
"My name's not _outsider,_ it's Link," he informed her.  
  
"I'm Naziri."  
  
"I know."  
  
There were a few moments of silence. Then Naziri sighed. "I'd better get back to the gate before Rajeh tells my betters that I'm incompetent."   
  
Link sighed and went in the guard cell. In the worst case, he could use his still-hidden bow and arrows to stun the guards and make his escape. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask...  
  
"I don't suppose you could let me go," he remarked amiably.  
  
"Uh-uh." She shook her head vigorously. "Sorry if I got you into this, but I'm already in trouble. If they found you missing..." She shuddered. "I'll need to take those," she added abruptly, pointing to the sword and shield on Link's back.  
  
"I'm not just handing them over," he warned, his hand shifting to the Master Sword. "How am I to know that you aren't going to destroy them?"  
  
"I'll keep them with me, in the gate house," she assured him with a smile. "I won't destroy them, I promise."  
  
Link stared at her for a moment, then slowly unclipped the sword and shield from his back and handed them over to her. "Nayru only knows why, but I trust you."  
  
Naziri smiled darkly. "Do I look like an idiot? I know you've got a bow hidden with you, and probably some other weapons, too."  
  
When Link simply gaped at her in amazement, she grinned. "Tell you what. I'll see what I can do, and _maybe_ come back for you tonight. That way, you won't have to hurt any of my sisters."  
  
Link nodded. She locked the cell door and picked up his sword and shield and swung them over her back. She winked and blew him a playful kiss, then she was gone.  
  
Link sat down on the floor of the cell, preparing himself for a long day.  
  
***  
  
Sometime around midday, a Gerudo came by with food and water. She dumped the provisions on the floor of his cell, gave him a scowl, and left. Link greedily consumed the food and could have eaten more, but at least there was enough water in the two skins the Gerudo had given him.   
  
Night fell. The stars shone brightly through the window in the ceiling. Link decided that if Naziri hadn't come back by midnight, he'd use his bow and arrows to stun the guards and make his escape.  
  
He needn't have worried. The white moon was just peeking through through a corner of the ceiling window when Naziri appeared, carrying his sword and shield.  
  
"Hello," she greeted him cheerfully as she opened the door to his cell. "Glad to see you're still here. I was worried that I'd find my sisters lying all over the place, unconscious." She handed Link his weapons.  
  
"How are we going to get past the guards if I don't stun them?" Link demanded, strapping his weapons onto his back.  
  
Naziri grinned. "Ah, but that's the beauty of it. We don't have to." She walked over to the red rug in the middle of the stone floor and threw it over. Under it was a wooden trap door.  
  
Naziri grasped a hold of a metal ring on the door and flung it open, revealing a dark hole. "My sisters never thought to put a guard in here, because no outsider would know that it was there. We have it in case we need to evacuate some day, for whatever reason."  
  
She jumped down through the trap door and landed softly on a surface some six or seven feet below the floor. "Well, c'mon," she called up to Link. "What are you waiting for?"  
  
He jumped down as well and found himself in a dark tunnel cut out of the hard dirt underground. Naziri took a torch off the wall and marched off down the tunnel, Link following warily behind.  
  
Their walk took them through dozens of twists and turns and dark corridors. There was not a soul to be seen, nor any light save for the flickering of Naziri's torch. Eventually Link sensed the ground beginning to rise, and suddenly the underground labyrinth stopped. Seeing the dirt wall in front of them, Link thought Naziri must have took a wrong turn somewhere and led them to a dead end.  
  
But he was wrong. On closer inspection, the dirt wall had steps carved in it. Naziri led the way up the steps and stopped below a giant rock that had been placed over the exit.  
  
The Gerudo placed the torch in a bracket on the wall and curled her fingers into tiny handholds in the rock. Planting her feet firmly on the steps, she pushed upward with all her might. When the stone began to slide, Link threw his weight against it to help her.  
  
The stone slid little by little, revealing more and more of the starry sky above them. At last the stone slid aside to make a hole wide enough for a body to fit through. Naziri scrambled nimbly up the rest of the stairs and through the hole, followed by Link.  
  
They were just outside of the high clay wall surrounding the fortress. The moon shone brightly in the dark blue sky, lighting the desert sand. Link heard a whicker in the distance and turned to see Epona approaching him with Navi on her heels.  
  
The fairy zipped around Link's head excitedly. "Where were you?" she demanded. "Epona and I were waiting all day while you were playing around in that place."  
  
"It was a Gerudo fortress," Link told her, grimacing. "They locked me up." He turned to find Naziri leaning against the clay wall, listening to the conversation with a grin.  
  
"This is Naziri," Link informed his fairy, gesturing toward the Gerudo. "She helped me escape from the fortress. Naziri, this is my fairy, Navi."  
  
Naziri and Navi exchanged greetings. Then Naziri turned to Link with a regretful sigh. "I'd better go," she said grimly. "My sisters will find you missing soon, I've no doubt. If they find me missing too...there'll be trouble." She turned to enter the secret tunnel again.  
  
"Wait a minute," Link said impulsively. "Why don't you come with me?"  
  
Naziri turned back to face him. She blinked several times. "What?"  
  
Link hesitated. He wasn't sure exactly what had made him say that, but now that he had, he somehow thought that it was a really good idea.  
  
"Come with me," he repeated. "I'm just traveling through Pinnasi right now, because I'm looking for someone, but I'd like your company. And when I find who I'm looking for, maybe you can come back to Hyrule."  
  
Naziri's green eyes sparkled. "Hyrule? The continent to the north where the Hero of Time lives?"  
  
"That's the one," Link confirmed, shifting from foot to foot nervously. Navi snickered.  
  
Naziri hesitated, looking back at the wall surrounding the fortress. "I don't know," she said doubtfully. "Leave my sisters?" She considered, then said slowly, "That's right...that would mean leaving my sisters...and Rajeh...and boring guard posts..."  
  
Link smiled a bit. It seemed Naziri didn't think this was such a bad idea either. "Well?" he asked. "Are you coming?"  
  
Naziri looked at him and grinned. "Leave the Gerudo fortress? Just try and stop me!" Then she hesitated. "Oh...but wait..."  
  
"What?"  
  
She paced back and forth a bit. "If we're going to be crossing the desert," she said slowly, "we'd better have some provisions, for us and your horse." She looked at Link. "Will you wait for an hour or two? I can go back to the fortress and get some food and water, then meet you back here."  
  
"Sure, I'll wait," he promised. He'd been planning to go back to the oasis to refill their supplies, but this was a better idea.  
  
"Stay right here," she ordered, then disappeared into the tunnel.  
  
Link used the bit of time to catch up on some much-needed sleep, and woke instantly when he heard a soft voice say his name. The moon was farther on in its nightly course, and Naziri was standing over him. She had two enormous water skins flung over her back, and two more canvas sacks rested at her feet, which Link assumed were filled with food. She was armed not with her glaive, but with the deadly twin scimitar blades that Gerudo used in combat. They were hanging on her belt.  
  
She grinned fiercely. "I have the provisions," she said. "I assume your mare is able to carry them." She dropped the water skins next to the food bags with a sigh.  
  
"She can," Link assured her, and loaded the supplies on Epona's back. "I think we'd better walk, though, as long as she's carrying everything." He frowned, worried. "How long will it take to cross the remainder of this desert on foot?"  
  
Naziri pointed to the northeast. "If we go in that direction, and make good time, we'll get to the mountains in about four or five days," she said. "And we will make good time, with me around." White teeth flashed in the darkness. "I know how to survive in the desert."  
  
"Good," he said, relieved. "I figured that from the mountains we'll head to the Sacred River and follow it north."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Naziri said, and smiled.  
  
***  
  
Naziri instantly assumed leadership of their desert expedition, a role Link was all too happy to give her. She had not been lying when she said she knew how to survive in the desert. She immediately made some changes in the ways they traveled which seemed so obvious that Link wondered how he overlooked them.  
  
The very first change she insisted on was the time during which they traveled. From the moment they left the Gerudo fortress, they traveled only at night and rested during the day. This, Naziri explained, would cut their use of the water rations in half as well as give them a cooler, calmer climate in which to travel. During the daytime, Naziri used Link's canvases and a few poles to string up a makeshift tent that shaded them from the harsh sun and sandstorms.  
  
One afternoon the travelers had the good fortune of stumbling across another oasis. Naziri soaked her feet all day in the cold spring while Link sat next to her on a rock. Naziri's pretty slippers, it seemed, were not made for long walks. Her tiny feet were covered in bloody scratches. She cleaned her feet carefully in the spring and then used strips of canvas to bind them.  
  
The rest of the day she sat and watched Link's careful process of cleaning his weapons with interest. He cleaned them of dirt and grime as often as possible, afraid that the sandy air would make them rusty.  
  
He was sliding his newly-cleaned sword into its sheath when Naziri remarked, "It's called the Master Sword, right?"  
  
Link banged the sword down on the rock. "Does _everyone_ know who I am?" he snapped.  
  
Naziri giggled. Link was beginning to realize that almost nothing fazed her. "I doubt anybody back at the fortress did. I didn't either, until I took a good look at your sword. Then I knew for sure."  
  
"And how do you know what my sword is supposed to look like?" he demanded.  
  
"We Gerudo _should_ know," she said, her expression darkening. "Our sisters in Hyrule told us everything that happened between the Hero of Time and our _former_ king, Ganondorf."  
  
Link and Naziri both scowled at that name. "We try to learn from our mistakes," the Gerudo added. "Therefore, no male born to us in the future shall ever be our king again."  
  
"If it prevents another Ganondorf, I won't argue," Link said darkly.  
  
***  
  
Stay tuned for the next chapter! And please review...thank you so much. ^_^  



	6. Secrets

_From the Hime no Argh herself-  
  
_Hello, loyal readers. Welcome to another edition of _The Triforce United._ I guess everyone's been enjoying it so far, judging from my reviews. I'm so happy that you're all happy.   
  
This is probably going to be the last installment until after Thanksgiving weekend, because I'm going away. It's too bad, really, because the next chapter is cool. But it's only for a few days and I'll be back on Monday ready to upload, provided you guys want me to continue. Encourage me, please! My poor ego is so fragile... ^_^;  
  
None of this Zelda stuff belongs to me, yadda yadda. On with the story!  
  


  
***  
**  
The Triforce United  
**  
***  
  
Secrets  


  
When three days had passed since they'd left the Gerudo fortress, mountains appeared on the horizon. True to her word, Naziri led them to the foot of the mountains within four and a half days.   
  
Not for a moment did Link regret asking Naziri to join them. He'd had no romantic notions whatsoever about crossing the desert again, but Naziri had gotten them through it quickly and without incident. She never complained about the long walks, even when her feet were cut up by the desert sand, and knew plenty of tricks to make the travel easier. It was also nice to have someone else to talk to besides Link's fairy and horse.  
  
Link and his companions traveled over the mountain range and soon entered another hilly country. Link's plan was to head east directly to the coast until they found the delta of the Sacred River, which they would follow north. Naziri had no objections to this plan.  
  
About six days passed since their leaving the Gerudo fortress when Link and Naziri were stopped by a storm. They set up camp at the top of a hill and huddled under a makeshift tent, waiting for the rain and wind to cease.  
  
"So did you live at the Gerudo fortress your whole life?" Link asked Naziri curiously.  
  
"Mm-hm," she replied, poking at their fire. "In all my life, I never once thought I'd see more than just desert."  
  
Naziri was nineteen years old and a stranger to every landscape except the desert. Their travels through the mountains and hilly countries had seen Naziri with wide eyes at every moment as she tried to take in all of the brand-new sights.  
  
"It must have been a boring life, living in the desert like that for years," Link mused.  
  
Naziri was silent for a few moments. The she said quietly, "It wasn't so bad. I just wanted to see more of the world, and more people than just Gerudo. Very rarely do outsiders stumble across our fortress."  
  
"How long was it since your last visitor when I came?" Link asked.  
  
Naziri grinned sheepishly. "Two weeks."  
  
"Two weeks?" Link couldn't help laughing. "And that's rarely to you?"  
  
Naziri made a face. "The last visitor before him came years ago," she informed Link. "And the outsider before you was at the fortress for only a day."  
  
"Did you let him go?" Link asked.  
  
Naziri shook her head. "Of course not. My sisters are never that lenient, even to female outsiders. This person disappeared all on his own. My sisters were completely baffled, because no one had seen him go, and no one was found stunned or hurt."  
  
"That is baffling," Link agreed. "What did he look like?"  
  
Naziri closed her eyes for a moment, as if picturing the stranger, then opened them. "Let's see...he was about this tall, I think-" She held a hand flat a few inches below the top of her head. "Kind of a small guy, and really thin and wiry, but in good shape, you know? And he was wearing blue all over, and this tunic-sort-of-thing with a weird picture on it, like an eye, embroidered in red."  
  
Link swallowed hard. "Like a Sheikah's clothes?" he said, his mouth dry.  
  
Naziri stared at him blankly. "What's a Sheikah?"  
  
"Never mind. Go on, please."  
  
"All right...well, he had light golden hair and the strangest red eyes, but I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a mask, and he refused to take it off..." She stared at Link. "What's gotten into you?"  
  
Link realized his mouth was hanging open, and closed it. "I knew it," he said grimly. "I knew it, I knew it." He put his face in his hands. "I can't _believe_ I just missed her!" he told his palms.  
  
"Her?" Naziri's eyebrows rose. "I'm pretty sure that guy was a definite _him_. He called himself Shike or Shek or-"  
  
"Sheik," Link corrected firmly. "My quarry. And I guarantee you, _he_ is a definite _she_."  
  
Naziri scowled. "Let me get this straight. _She_, as in the man who visited the fortress a couple of weeks ago, is the_ girl_ you've been looking for?"  
  
"Yes, that's right," Link said wearily. "The man called Sheik is non-existant. A fake. My friend, the one I've been searching for, disguised herself as Sheik and ran away to this island. Her real name is Zelda."  
  
Naziri gasped. "The queen of Hyrule?"  
  
"That's her," Link confirmed. Then he hesitated. "How much...do you know about the Hero of Time? About me, that is."  
  
Naziri assumed a theatrical pose. "'Blessed by the goddesses, he descended into the bowels of hell to battle with the King of Evil'," she recited, "'and when the legendary battle ceased, he stood victorious.'"  
  
When Link simply stared at her with raised eyebrows, she giggled. "My sisters have a lot of poems that go like that."  
  
He made a face. "I didn't _descend_ into anything," he informed her. "I had to climb about a thousand stairs to get to his tower in the castle, where he was waiting for me."  
  
"That makes for an even better poem," Naziri said thoughtfully. "'He parted the clouds and ascended to the heavens to banish the King of Evil once and for-'"  
  
"Enough!" Link grimaced. "What else do you know?"  
  
"Hm..." Naziri looked thoughtful. "I know you rescued a number of the sages from their temples, including Queen Zelda, who Ganondorf captured, because she has the Triforce of Wisdom," she added wisely.  
  
"So you know that the goddesses have their hands on her," he said.  
  
"Yes."  
  
He nodded. "I think she ran away because the goddesses told her to. All this time that I've been traveling, I've had these strange dreams...like foreboding dreams, you know? Something's going on, and I'm not sure what it is. All I know is that Zelda must know something more than I do, because she'd never leave her kingdom on just a whim."  
  
"Are you positive?" Naziri asked doubtfully.  
  
"Yes," he replied, without hesitation.  
  
Naziri shrugged. "You know her better than I do," she said. "But if something is happening in Hyrule, wouldn't you be better off there?"  
  
He shook his head, looking down. "No," he said softly. "As harsh as it may seem, my first duty isn't to my homeland. It's to Zelda. If the Triforce falls into the hands of the next maniac to come along, the whole world is doomed. We have to protect it."  
  
"So that's why you want to find Zelda," Naziri said wisely. "To protect the Triforce of Wisdom."  
  
"Yes," he said. But Naziri must have seen the wistful look in his eye, because she giggled.  
  
"Is it just to protect the Triforce?" she teased. "Or is there some alterior motive?"  
  
He made a face at her. "No. And it's not just Zelda that I have to worry about. There's the other two pieces as well."  
  
"Where are they?" Naziri inquired.  
  
"Well, the Triforce of Power could be anywhere," Link said darkly. "Even in the hands of the enemy. For some reason the goddesses don't seem to keep a very close eye on that one."  
  
Naziri nodded. "What about the other? It's the Triforce of Courage,   
right?"  
  
"Yeah." Link hesitated, looking down at his hands. _What could the harm be in telling her? _he wondered. _She knows so much already._  
  
He made his decision, and stripped off the leather archer's guards covering his hands, hoping he wasn't making a grave mistake. Then he held up one hand for Naziri to see, the back of it facing her. Naziri drew in a sharp breath and her eyes went wide. Link knew exactly what she was seeing- the mark of the Triforce, etched in gold on the back of his hand, a mark that was completely unremovable. It was the sign that a piece of the Triforce was inside of him. Zelda had the exact same marks on the back of her hands.   
  
"The Triforce of Courage is in you?" she demanded incredulously.  
  
"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know, since you seem to know so much about me already." Then he shrugged. "It is a well-guarded secret, nonetheless."  
  
"I know it now," she said softly.  
  
"Yeah." He looked at her carefully. "You planning to tell someone?"  
  
Naziri shook her head emphatically. "You just said it was a secret,   
didn't you?" She smiled. "I won't tell anyone."  
  
***  
_  
Link was almost expecting to see Sheik when he went to sleep.  
  
"Come to reprimand me?" Link asked dryly when Sheik appeared to him. "I know you don't want me to make it public knowledge that I'm the Hero of Time. But I didn't tell her."  
  
"I know," Sheik said calmly.   
  
Link scowled at him. "Of course you do. You know everything, and I know nothing." He shook his head, and boldly demanded, "Who are you?"  
  
Sheik stared at him silently for several long moments, and Link thought he would refuse to answer. Then his form began to gradually change, subtlely at first, then definitely noticable. His shape blurred and shifted as slowly, steadily, a bright glow grew around him. The light was soon blinding, and Link was forced to look away. When at last the glow was tolerable, he looked back to see not Sheik, but a shining green light with pure white at its core, like a minurature star floating right in front of him.  
  
Link didn't have the slightest doubt who this was. It was his patron, Farore, the goddess of courage.  
  
"I thought you'd be more willing to listen to these warnings I have given you," the goddess explained in her strange and distorted, yet beautiful voice, "if you heard them from someone you once knew."  
  
Link felt very confused. "Maybe," he said slowly. "But then, I didn't really know Sheik, did I?"  
  
"No," said Farore.  
  
The goddess's light was numbing. He felt as though he couldn't think. "Because Sheik wasn't real," he continued, trying to get it all straight. "Because he's Zelda, isn't she?"  
  
The gleaming star that was Farore darted in a circle around him once. When she'd come back to her original position, Link's confusion disappeared.  
  
"I thought you might have spoken to Zelda," Link told the goddess.  
  
"Yes," Farore confirmed. "Or, to be more accurate, Nayru spoke to her. We felt it was nessecary to convince Zelda to leave her kingdom."  
  
Link nodded. Just as Farore was Link's patron, Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, was Zelda's, because the Triforce of Wisdom was contained within her. "Then something really is wrong," he said, a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.  
  
"Yes," Farore said gently.   
  
He ran a hand over his eyes, pacing back and forth a bit. "And let me guess," he said wearily. "I have a new enemy to fight."  
  
"Perhaps."  
  
"Who is it this time?" he asked weakly. "Some demon? Another maniac who posesses the Triforce of Power?" When Farore would have spoken, he held up a hand. "No, no. It has to be much worse than that. It's Ganondorf, isn't it? Revived and back in power, whether he's in his mortal or immortal form."  
  
A part of him quivered inwardly at speaking so rudely to a goddess, but the rest of him was angry enough to ignore that part. Farore herself had told him that the Triforce of Power would make trouble for him again. The last time the sacred relic had fallen into a maniac's hands, the destruction of Hyrule and the near-deaths of both Link and Zelda had been the result.  
  
"I don't understand why you don't make sure the Triforce of Power won't cause trouble," Link informed his goddess.   
  
Farore's voice was pitying when she spoke. "Poor Link," she said. "You don't understand destiny in the slightest, nor do you understand what we, the three goddesses, can and can't do." She moved a bit closer to Link. "Who was it, pray, who took the Master Sword from the pedestal and so released the Triforce of Power?"  
  
"What are you saying?" Link demanded. "Are you blaming me now for Ganondorf's rise to power?"  
  
"Of course not," Farore said dismissively. "In all honesty, the way things turned out were the best we could have hoped for. If you hadn't opened the door to the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf would have found some other way into it. Then would have eliminated the threats to him, including you, when those threats were young, naive, and powerless."  
  
"But why is it," Link wanted to know, "that when the Triforce was reunited and Ganondorf was defeated, you didn't just put the Triforce of Power in someone safe instead of leaving it with Ganondorf?" It sounded perfectly logical to him.  
  
Perhaps Farore thought so as well, because she was silent for a few moments. "There are...reasons," she said at last. "Complications. For one thing, we believe the Triforce of Power may be slightly corruptive. It would not be easy to find a vessel that wouldn't end up using the Power to his or her own gain. However..." She fell silent again. At last she said, "There may be someone....We will have to seriously consider your request."  
  
"Great," Link muttered. "Perfect. I suppose I should throw myself to my knees now and express my gratitude?"  
  
Link wasn't sure how, since the sphere of glowing green light had nothing approaching a mouth, but he knew Farore smiled. "No, that won't be nessecary. If you want to express gratitude, you can do so by forgetting your fear of your destiny. I don't understand why you're afraid of a potential enemy if you know you're going to fight him, regardless of anything that's holding you back."  
  
Link understood what Farore was saying. She was saying that there was no point in being afraid of what he couldn't control. Of what would happen, regardless of what he did. But she was a goddess. What did she know about mortal fear?   
  
"I can't forget my fear," he said frankly. "I've lived for four years waiting   
for Ganondorf to come back for another round. I nearly lost my life battling him. That sort of thing sticks with you, you know? I don't ever want to fight him again."   
  
"And yet, what if he does return?" Farore asked gently. "Will you turn away from him and let him do what he will, because you don't want to fight him again?"  
  
"No," Link muttered. "I guess not. If I'm the only one who can fight him, that is."  
  
"You're very brave," his goddess told him. "I'd expect no less from the man who holds my Triforce. Try to remember that there is no point in fearing the inevitable. If there is another enemy to face, you will face it. You know that as well as I."  
  
"Yes," he said reluctantly.  
  
Farore's light was drifting away. The dream world around him was dissolving. "You will find Zelda soon, I think," she assured him. "Wait for instruction once you do."  
  
She was gone._  
  
***  
  
A hand was shaking his shoulder.  
  
Link's eyes flew open. He reacted without thinking- it happened so fast that his tired mind was unable to follow it. Within seconds he had the person who'd woken him in his grasp, a dagger pressed to the stranger's throat.  
  
The stranger was very still. "It's me!" a familiar voice hissed.  
  
Link relaxed and lowered the dagger. "Naziri!" he whispered fiercely. "What are you doing? I could have killed you!"  
  
"I'm sorry," she said. The dull yellow light of dawn was pouring in the makeshift tent. By the light, Link could see that Naziri's eyes were wide and frightened.  
  
He came fully awake. "What's wrong?" he demanded.  
  
Naziri jerked her head in the direction of the sunlight from the east. "I thought I heard something breathing," she said quite seriously.  
  
Link was instantly alert. "Where?" he demanded in a whisper, the hand holding the dagger tightening its grip.  
  
"Over the hills," she whispered, sounding frightened. "If you listen very hard, you can hear it."  
  
Link and Naziri were both completely silent. The only sound Link could hear was Epona munching grass next to the tent. "I don't-"  
  
"Shhhh," Naziri hissed fiercely.   
  
Link listened again, and then he heard it- a soft whooshing sound,   
coming from over the hills to the east.  
  
He laughed. "That's the ocean!" he told her, smiling. "The sound of waves breaking against the shore. We must not have heard it last night because of the rain   
and-"  
  
Link broke off when, quite suddenly, Naziri jumped up and tore out of the tent as if chased by seven devils. "What the...?" he said to no one, astounded.  
  
He jumped to his feet and ran after Naziri, earning a strange look from his mare. He saw Naziri at the top of a hill, on her knees and staring rapturously at whatever was below. Cresting the hill and coming to stand next to the Gerudo, he saw the blue ocean strectched out before them as far as the eye could see. The sun was just rising over the horizon, casting a shimmering, golden glow over the water. The sparkling turquoise waves were crashing against the jagged rocks below them, throwing up white foam.  
  
"Oh, glory," Naziri breathed.  
  
Link sank down next to her. "Pretty, isn't it?"  
  
"Pretty?" Naziri demanded incredulously, as if he'd just made the understatement of a lifetime. She shook her head, gazing over the ocean with shining eyes. "In twenty years of living at the Gerudo fortress, I never saw anything half as beautiful as this," she said softly.   
  
"I know what you mean," he told her quietly. "The first time I saw the ocean, I couldn't look away from it."  
  
"I can't believe this is what I've been missing," Naziri exclaimed. "If I'd had just an idea of what the ocean was like, I'd've left the fortress years ago."  
  
"We still have to find the river delta, so we could travel along the coast for a while," he offered. "If you want to."  
  
Naziri stared at him with raised eyebrows. "If I want to?" she repeated. "If I _want_ to?"  
  
Link grinned. "I'll take that as a yes."  
  
***  



	7. Out of the Void

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-_  
  
Hello again to old and new readers alike. How was Thanksgiving weekend for everyone? My weekend was lots of fun, though I'm sure I gained about twenty pounds. But hey, that's all right, because I have this nice little gift. Whenever I gain weight, I don't show it. ^_^  
  
This is a fairly interesting chapter, as you'll see in the first section. I always like writing for people who are completely insane, heheh. Ah, see, now I've caught your attention. So read on, enjoy, and review!  
  
  


***  
  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
  
***  


  


Out of the Void  


  
  
The world Ganondorf knew was white.  
  
Completely white. Infuriating, pure whiteness, all around him. There were no bounderies that he could see. If Ganondorf stretched out his hands, he could touch the walls of his prison. But he couldn't see them.  
  
Ganondorf waited. And waited. Time was non-existant to Ganondorf. At first he'd tried to keep track of time, but it soon became impossible. There was no sun to rise and fall. There were no clocks. There was nothing he could use to mark the passage of time. Quite soon after his imprisonment, time had lost meaning. Sometimes Ganondorf thought he'd been imprisoned in this white void for only a few seconds. Sometimes he thought it was thousands of years.   
  
And so Ganondorf waited. And as he waited, he thought. It was the only thing he could do. But he often wished he couldn't.  
  
For what Ganondorf thought of was his defeat at the hands of the Hero of Time. Over and over he replayed the legendary battle in his mind. He remembered quite vividly that day in his tower, after he'd captured Zelda. That day, he'd passed the time by playing the organ pipes, waiting for that boy called Link to arrive, as Ganondorf had known he would. He'd gotten past every one of Ganondorf's barriers and made his way to the top of the tower. Ganondorf remembered how he'd turned to see the Hero of Time standing there with his sword and shield ready, the mark of the Triforce imprinted on those unworthy hands, as it was on Zelda's and Ganondorf's hands.   
  
Ganondorf remembered how he's laughed at that insignificant boy. And he remembered, as vividly as though it were yesterday, the feel of that cold sword slicing into his middle to deliver the death blow.  
  
But Ganondorf had not been quite dead. Oh, no. With his last breath, he'd spoken an incantation to bring his castle to ruins, and hopefully bury Link and Zelda with it. But Zelda had used her powers to unlock the doors barring their way, and the two had escaped. They'd thought that the battle was over.  
  
But it wasn't. The Triforce of Power had flickered to life, granting Ganondorf a new body that reflected his twisted heart. Reborn as Ganon, the ungodly monster, he'd thrown himself back into battle with the Hero of Time, striking the Master Sword so that it flew from Link's hand and landed outside of the ring of fire surrounding the warriors. Ganon had gloated, thinking Link helpless without his sword, but once again he'd underestimated the boy's power. His resourceful nemesis had blinded Ganon with a barrage of Light Arrows and smashed his tail with the Megaton Hammer. The blows had weakened Ganon until the fiery arena subsided, and Link brandished the Master Sword once more.  
  
Battle had resumed as the fire sprung up again. Link fired Light Arrows into Ganon's eyes and sliced through his tail with the legendary blade. Ganon had been further weakened with each blow, and when the fire once again subsided, Zelda jumped in to do her part. Rendering Ganon helpless with her magic, she'd ordered Link to deliver the final blow. Ganon would never forget the moment that the Hero of Time plunged the Master Sword into his evil, twisted heart.   
  
With a summon from Zelda, the sages had appeared. Combining their power, they opened the void and cast Ganon into it, restoring his mortal body in the process. And so Ganondorf was Ganondorf again, a twisted, pitiful creature imprisoned forever in the white void.  
  
Or so he thought.  
  
Something was changing. Ganondorf slowly came back from his thoughts, noticing the change around him. At first he could not identify it, being out of touch with reality for so long. But then slowly he began to realize what it was. The temperature in the void around him...it was _changing_.  
  
Hot, Ganondorf thought, trying to sort through the confused jumble that his mind had become. _Changing. Hotter. Becoming...hotter._  
  
The walls of his imprisonment were changing, too. _Color, _he thought. _Changing color. Not white. Changing...color. Red. Yes? Yes. Red. Like...fire. Hot. Red. Like fire._  
  
Ganondorf was very confused. He tried to speak. It seemed as though he'd forgotten how to do so. Twisting his tongue, he tried to form words. Sounds came from his mouth. They were not words, but at least they were something.  
  
Inspired, Ganondorf tried again. Just as his mind was awakening, his functions were, as well. "Wha...wha..." he said, startled by the sound of his own voice. "What. What...what? What...is...that?"  
  
He watched the walls of his prison turn a dark red. The change in the temperature was definitely noticable now. "Hot," Ganondorf muttered. "Too hot. Changing too fast. Too...strange. What is happening?"  
  
_"What is happening?"_ The voice was everywhere...a high, cold, female voice, surrounding him. The cold edge to it cutting through him, like a knife. _"My dear man, has that mind of yours deteriorated so much? Try to speak without sounding like an idiot, won't you?"  
_  
"Not an idiot," said Ganondorf angrily. "No. No, I'm not an idiot!" His voice was stronger now, louder. "Who are you? Who are you?"  
  
_"Who are you?" _the voice mocked. The sound of it was cold, and yet it was hot. Like the fire creeping up the walls of his imprisonment.  
  
"Let me out," Ganondorf whispered. "Let me out."  
  
_"Let me out," _the voice echoed, still mocking.  
  
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Ganondorf screamed, over and over. How long it had been since he'd heard a voice, Ganondorf didn't know. Years and years with nothing to look at, nothing to touch, nothing to listen to but his own thoughts, had driven him far beyond the brink of madness.   
  
Again and again, he slammed his fists into the walls of his prison. The fire burned him as the power in the walls tore at his hands. Blood was soon streaming down Ganondorf's arms, but he didn't care. Ganondorf was beyond pain.  
  
"LET ME OUT!" he screamed until his throat was raw and burning. The mysterious voice waited until his efforts had exhausted, which took quite a while. At last Ganondorf collapsed to the floor of his prison, clutching his bloody hands to his chest and heaving great sobs.  
  
_"You're a pathetic man, Ganondorf,"_ the voice sneered when he'd quieted somewhat. _"You want out, do you?"_  
  
"Yes," Ganondorf whispered, his voice torn so raw that he couldn't speak any louder. "Please." He sobbed, his bloody hands covering his eyes. "Let me out. Let me out..."  
  
_"I'll let you out. But hold your tongue for a few minutes, if you can manage. We have to talk, you and I."  
_  
"Yes," said Ganondorf, nodding vigorously.  
  
_"First of all, let's get one thing straight,"_ the cold voice ordered. _"You are going to be freed by me. Therefore, you will serve me. Do you understand this?"_  
  
"What do you want me to do for you?" Ganondorf asked.  
  
_"I want you to serve me," _the voice repeated. _"You will be my loyal servant, in exchange for the two things that you want most- freedom, and the death of the Hero of Time."_  
  
Ganondorf's head lifted. "Death?" he whispered. "Revenge?"  
  
"Yes, vengance against the Hero of Time," the voice said coldly. _"He will die at your hands, if you do as I say. Zelda will die as well. I will have her piece of the Triforce, and Link's and yours as well, and the completed Triforce will be mine."_  
  
"You can have it," Ganondorf whispered. "You can have it. I want him dead. I want him DEAD!"  
  
_"Quiet!" _the voice snapped._ "I will give you this, if you will give me your abject and unquestionable service."_  
  
"You can have it," Ganondorf repeated. "Let me out. Please..." He choked back a sob. "Please..."  
  
_"As you wish,"_ the voice said mockingly. The fire crept higher and higher up the walls of his prison. The whiteness was changing to a dark red, which in turn changed to black. Ganondorf felt the world around him dissolving.  
  
And suddenly, with a shock that made his head spin, he was no longer in the void. He was standing on solid ground...he was standing in a vast, moonlit field. A cool wind was blowing. Ganondorf could hear the soft crunch of grass under his feet as he hesitantly took a few steps. Dropping to his knees, he snatched up handfuls of the cool grass and dirt and raised them to his face, breathing in the scent of earth and his own blood. Ganondorf could hear the hooting of owls, feel the wind playfully carrassing his face, taste the cool air. And what he could see...oh, by the goddesses, it was everything but the whiteness he'd known for so long.  
  
Tears were streaming down his face as he struggled to his feet. "Damn him," he sobbed, his voice breaking. "Damn him and his princess. Damn the sages. Damn the goddesses." The hand holding the dirt convulsed in a passionate gesture. "Damn all of them...all of them that took me away from this."  
  
"You'll do better than damn them," the cold voice said laughingly. "You'll have your revenge against them. You'll hold their lifeless bodies in your arms...you'll laugh when you catch the scent of their spilled blood."   
  
Ganondorf whirled around, seeking the source of the voice, and found it behind him. The source was a beautiful, unholy female, floating in midair above him. She was slender, shapely, her skin whiter than snow. Hair as black as ebony curled around her face and cascaded in waves down her back; her eyes were a dark, glowing red, like fire. She wore nothing other than what appeared to be a cloak of inky shadow, shifting over and around her as if it had a mind of its own.  
  
Her perfect mouth opened. It was lined with rows of thin, white, razor-sharp teeth. Ganondorf took a step back, afraid; suddenly she was not so beautiful.   
  
She bared her teeth. "Meet your master, Ganondorf!" she cried, ecstatic, laughing. "Meet the unholy demoness, Maeve!"   
  
***  
  
When Link woke the following morning, the feelings of foreboding were stronger than ever. They hung over him like a dark cloud. He was jumpy, irritable. The back of his neck was prickling.  
  
Link knew he wasn't the only one affected. Navi was silent and jittery throughout the day, and Epona fidgeted as she walked. Naziri kept a hand close to her scimitars as if she sensed something as well, and she watched Link through shadowed eyes. He knew that his unease was making her nervous.  
  
They followed the coast for the first half of the day. As the hours wore on, the terrain became swampy and wet. Link related to Naziri that they must be close to the river delta, and received only a nod in response. Link had a feeling that Naziri didn't understand the concept of a delta any more than she'd understood the ocean, before she saw it.  
  
An hour or two past noon, they stumbled across a large swamp that could only be the delta. Link and Naziri changed course after that, taking a path inland that would lead them upstream along with the river, to the northern area of Pinnasi.   
  
They camped for the night on the bank of the Sacred River, and Naziri cooked a lumpy mess of desert maize and spices that turned out to be much better than it looked.   
  
Link marked more of their trail on his map after they'd eaten. Then, flipping the parchment over, he shut his eyes tightly, and, thinking hard about the premonitions, he rapidly scribbled three words. When Link opened his eyes and saw what he'd unconsciously written on the back of the map, chills went up his spine.  
  
_Fire, power, Ganondorf._   
  
Link rolled up the map and tossed it aside. It was all too coincidental. Did those three little words give a clue towards the future? Or was he just being paranoid?  
  
He didn't know. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, either.  
  
***  
  
They'd been traveling along the river banks for about three days when they stumbled across a campsite at the top of a waterfall. There was a fire pit in the middle and footprints strewn about. Poking around the site made Link uneasy. It was almost as if someone had wanted them to find this.  
  
"Somebody was here, and not too long ago," Naziri announced. She was kicking over piles of branches, looking for leftover supplies or anything of that sort.  
  
"Mmm." Link scuffed some dirt onto one of the tiny footprints idly.  
  
"D'you think it could've been Queen Zelda?" Naziri asked curiously.  
  
Link remembered that Zelda had small feet. "Not likely," he muttered, as if to spite himself. "She wouldn't leave evidence this clear."   
  
He glanced up to see Naziri untying a piece of paper from a branch. "You sure about that?" she crowed, waving the paper triumphantly.  
  
Link snatched the paper out of her hand and stared at it. It was a letter written clearly in Zelda's handwriting.   
  
"She expected you," Naziri said with great satisfaction.  
  
Link dropped down on a log and began to read.  
  
_Dear Link,  
  
I am hoping this letter will find its way to you, or you to it. I know it's a risk to leave it lying around, but it'll most likely get blown into the river, so I suppose it doesn't matter. If you've managed to follow my trail this far, I have to honor you. I also thank you for your concern.  
  
I'm sure by now you know that something is wrong. I feel it, as well. I was convinced that something was wrong the night I left Hyrule, otherwise I'd never have done it. Nayru wants me to wait for you, but I fear I can't. I have to keep moving. There's something out there and I don't know what it is, but it reminds me of fire. I have these strange dreams sometimes. I know you get premonitions. Do they ever remind you of fire?  
  
It doesn't matter anymore, I suppose. Nayru has forbidden me to go back to Hyrule. I'm going anyway. She's not about to strike me with down while I hold her Triforce. Maybe she's right. Maybe I'm running right into the hands of death. I don't care. I can't sit around here on this cursed island while my kingdom may be falling to pieces, again.  
  
Nayru tells me, if I must go back to Hyrule, I should wait for you. Nayru seems to think that you can protect me from whatever's back home better than I can. She's probably right. So here's the deal. Five or six days' travel north from the mountains, the Sacred River enters a large forest region. I'll be in the forest. I'll find you. Just stay there.  
  
This letter was written on the fifth day of the eight passing of the moon. I should reach the forest on the seventh day. I will remain there and wait for you for two weeks. If I've not found you by then, or you've not found me, I'll go back to Hyrule on my own. Got that? The twenty-first day is the day I leave the forest.  
  
I hope I'll see you before then.  
  
Zelda._  
  
Link rolled up the letter, musing over what he'd just read.  
  
"Well?" Naziri said expectantly after a few moments of silence.   
  
"She wants me to be in the forest region just north of here before the twenty-first day of this passing," Link said slowly. "What's the day, Naziri?"  
  
"The thirteenth." Naziri watched him with wide eyes.  
  
Link jumped up and rummaged around in the bags Epona was carrying until he found his map. He spread it out on the ground and pored over it, while Naziri looked on over his shoulder.  
  
"I figure, if we make good time, we'll enter the forest region in about two or three days. That leaves us...five or six days to find her. Or for her to find us."  
  
He tossed the map aside in frustration. "Five or six days!"  
  
"Don't start panicking," Naziri ordered, retrieving the map. "I'm sure she'll be all right with or without us. She got out of the Gerudo fortress all on her own. Your lady's gotta be tough."  
  
"She's not my lady."  
  
"Whatever. The point is, she'll survive." Naziri was watching him closely. She sat down cross-legged next to him. "So what's Queen Zelda look like, anyway? I only got a glimpse of her at the Gerudo fortress, and she was disguised then, so..." She waited.  
  
Link was silent for a few moments, picturing her. Trying to find a way to describe her. "Her hair's the color of moonglow," he said at last. "Pale, but with a touch of gold. And her eyes are a very dark blue. Like...like the color of the sky at midnight, or something like that. She's very short and thin. And she's sweet and quiet and gentle...except when she's in battle." He grinned, in spite of himself. "I've seen her fight. She's as fierce as a lion."  
  
"Sounds like what I've heard."  
  
Link glanced up, surprised. "Do your sisters have a lot of poems about her?"  
  
"Not exactly. Just...things. Legends, I suppose." Naziri smiled wryly. "Some of my sisters insist that she's a goddess."  
  
"Really?" Link was mystified.  
  
"Yes. Our sisters in Hyrule have told us about her, although I believe they may be exaggerating some things. They say she's as beautiful and wise as a goddess, and as clever and dangerous as a demon, when she's in battle. Some of my sisters think she's a god-child, and some think that she's a goddess of the Triforce. They say the fourth, middle triangle in the Triforce symbol belongs to her."  
  
"If there's four goddesses, why would they call it the Triforce?" Link asked calmly.  
  
Naziri grimaced. "Exactly. I don't believe she's a goddess. I do believe that she's a sacred being, however."  
  
Link nodded slowly. "Technically, you're right. She is a sage, after all."  
  
Naziri looked surprised. "Queen Zelda is a sage?"  
  
"Yes, the Sage of Time. She's the head of them, actually. The greatest."  
  
"How many sages are there?" Naziri asked curiously.  
  
"Seven, counting Zelda," Link answered. "I thought you'd know that."  
  
Naziri shook her head. "I know that the exalted Nabooru is a sage," she offered.  
  
Link half-smiled. "I know Nabooru. Or at least I did, at one point, before she went off to live in the Sacred Realm. She's got a strange sense of humor." He looked at Naziri thoughtfully. "You remind me of her, actually."  
  
"Me?" Naziri laughed derisively.  
  
"I'm serious. You have her sense of humor. And her independence. Nabooru wasn't exactly your every-day Gerudo, either. She's free-spirited."  
  
"No Gerudo, including me, would dare compare herself to the exalted Nabooru," Naziri said dismissively, but there was something odd in her voice. Some sort of tremor.  
  
Link wasn't sure whether or not to pursue it. After a few moments of silence, Naziri added softly, "I wish I could meet her."  
  
"Nabooru?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Link watched his friend's eyes carefully for a few moments. "I think she'd like you," he said quietly.  
  
A cold gust of wind blew, and Naziri gave an involuntary shiver. There was a long silence after that.  
  
***  
  
A couple of days passed, and the travelers entered the forest region. Naziri was again enchanted by the new terrain. The forest was deep and dark and green, with enormous trees blotting out the sun on either side of the river, giving the illusion that they were walking through a dark green tunnel. Link felt at home in the forest. It reminded him of the Kokiri village. And Saria.  
  
"So how long are we going to stay here?" Naziri asked as they walked, staring around with her emerald eyes wide.  
  
"Until we find Zelda. Or vice-versa."  
  
Naziri glanced over at him. "Then what?"  
  
Link sighed. "Well, I suppose we'll go back to Hyrule. Nothing's going to stop Zelda, anyway."  
  
"Do you not want to go?" Naziri asked curiously.  
  
Link studied his hands. "I do want to go home," he said frankly. "I'm just worried about what we might find there." He stopped walking and turned to face Naziri. "You don't have to go," he told her quietly. "It may be dangerous."  
  
Naziri stared at the ground like it was fascinating to her, scuffing a bit of dirt with a toe. "I'd like to go," she muttered finally.  
  
Link smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that," he told her quite honestly. "And I know Zelda won't mind."  
  
Naziri glanced up, surprised, and smiled a tiny bit. It might have been a trick of the light, but Link could've sworn he saw her blush.  
  
***  
  
To be continued... 


	8. The Battle in the Ghost Town

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself..._  
  
Well, what can I say that I haven't already? This is a cool chapter, I had fun writing it, back when I did. I'm getting a bit stressed out because I haven't finished this story yet, and although it's long, I'm eventually going to get to the part where I left off. Well, I just have to sit down and start writing. Only there's about a million other things that I'd like to work on right now.  
  
I don't see why ff.net authors do disclaimers. Miyamoto-san and all the other people behind the stuff that we write fanfics for are all getting free advertising, heh.  
  
But I don't own this stuff. You know that already. Great, my TV just spazzed out again. I'm watching a Digimon Tamers rerun, or at least I was. But now I'm going off again, so I'll just shut up. Enjoy the chapter, and please review! Give me some constructive criticism, if you have any. Really, I want to know how to make this story better.  
  
And here we go...  
  
  


***  


  


**The Triforce United**  


  


***  


  
  


The Battle in the Ghost Town  


  
  
They left the riverbanks that evening and began to search the forest for the missing Queen Zelda.  
  
Naziri watched Link carefully as they headed deeper and deeper into the trees. Link had told her that in her letter, Queen Zelda had said she'd find them, but Link still insisted on searching. Obviously he was dead set on finding his friend before the twenty-first day. He was obviously very devoted to her.  
  
Naziri had the feeling that Link felt something for Queen Zelda that might be deeper than friendship. She'd gotten the idea when Link desribed Zelda to her. Naziri wasn't going to say anything, of course, one way or another. That was between Link and Zelda.  
  
Naziri sometimes wondered how Link truly felt about her. She liked him, although he made her nervous sometimes. He was a legendary figure, practically a god by some peoples' standards. And what was she? Just a renegade Gerudo. A disgrace.  
  
Link seemed to enjoy her company. She knew he was grateful to her for getting them out of the Gerudo fortress and across the desert safely. He seemed to like her. But she wondered if that was all some sort of sympathy act. Surely Link must know that she was nothing but a disgraceful outcast, because she'd abandoned her sisters?  
  
But he didn't seem to know that.   
  
Thinking about this sort of thing only confused Naziri. She was no expert on human emotion. And she had something else to focus on, anyway. She was determined to help Link find Queen Zelda. She wasn't sure why, exactly. Maybe she just wanted to prove she was useful.  
  
Naziri could hear Link conversing softly with his fairy as they walked. Naziri was checking the supplies on Epona's back, focusing on something so that she wouldn't eavesdrop accidentally. She grimaced as she lifted their food bag off of Epona's back. There was hardly anything left in it.  
  
"We'll have to refill our supplies," she said, softly enough so that she might have been talking to herself. She didn't want to interrupt Link and Navi.  
  
"I know," Link said grimly. Naziri started in surprise. She didn't think Link had heard her.   
  
"I won't be any help," Naziri muttered. "I don't know anything about the sort of food you can find in the forest."  
  
Link grinned. "That's okay. I used to live with the Kokiri in our forest in Hyrule. I know what's good to eat and what's not."   
  
Naziri stared at him, mystified. "What are Kokiri?"  
  
"They're a race of forest children," Link explained. "They're the offspring of the Great Deku Tree, and they don't grow past ten, though they live much longer than ten years. If they ever leave our forest, they die."  
  
Naziri looked him up and down. "You don't look much like a Kokiri to me."  
  
Link smiled. "I'm not. I'm a Hylian, like Zelda. My parents brought me to the Great Deku Tree when I was an infant, just before they died. The Deku Tree raised me until I was ten years old."  
  
Naziri only stared.  
  
"I thought I was Kokiri. But then I left the forest when I was ten, and, well...I'm not dead."  
  
"You're a renegade, too," Naziri said disbelievingly.  
  
"Um...sort of. I guess."  
  
Navi darted between them, her wings buzzing irritably. "Is anyone paying attention to where we're going?" she demanded.  
  
Naziri looked around, surprised. She didn't realize until now how far they'd walked while talking. She couldn't even hear the roar of the water in the Sacred River anymore.  
  
"What does it matter where we are?" Link grumbled. "Zelda could be anywhere in this forest."  
  
Navi darted back and forth, then slowed and stopped in front of Link. "You _might_ want to take a look at what's up ahead." She zipped off through the trees.  
  
"Navi!" Link yelled, exasperated. He exchanged a glance with Naziri and sighed. "Stay put," he ordered Epona, and he and Naziri ran after Navi.  
  
They followed Navi a few hundred yards, then suddenly broke through the trees and found...  
  
"It's a ghost town," Naziri whispered, staring with wide eyes around the dusty, dark old square. The square was ringed by ramshackle old buildings that looked like they could fall apart at any moment. In the middle of the square stood a small post holding a dusty clock that had stopped working long ago. There was not a sound to be heard.  
  
It was also very dark. It seemed as though the moon had hidden behind clouds the moment they stepped into the town.  
  
Link took a few wary steps forward. The hair on the back of his neck was prickling. "There's something not right here," he whispered.  
  
"That's what I sensed," Navi told him.  
  
Glancing at Naziri, he saw that she was keeping a hand close to her scimitars. She felt something, too.  
  
"I'm thinking we'd better get-" Link began, but he was interrupted by a scrabbling noise behind him.  
  
Link whirled around, drawing the Master Sword in the same swift movement. His keen eyes searched the dark alleyways between the abandoned buildings...nothing.  
  
"Link," Naziri said. Her voice was trembling.  
  
Link turned again as something behind him gave three trumpet blasts.  
  
***  
  
Hundreds of yards away from the ghost town, a dark shape stood under a tree.  
  
It was silent. Motionless. It might have well been a shadow.  
  
But then a few moonbeams broke through the branches of the tree,   
illuminating the figure.   
  
Zelda had an excellent disguise. She was clad in a dark blue bodysuit, topped by a white tunic embroidered with the Sheikah Eye in red. Her pale golden hair was tied up and wrapped with bandages, worn as a boy's hair would be. Her mouth and nose were covered with more wrappings, so that only her eyes were revealed, and they were colored red by a spell, instead of their usual dark blue. Her chest was bound flat with yards of bandages under her clothes.  
  
An average person would see Zelda and assume she was male. A more culturally learned person would see her and assume she was Sheikah. Zelda was neither.  
  
But Zelda was hiding. Just as she had years ago when she was forced to protect herself, forced to change her identity so that Ganondorf might not find her.   
  
Zelda's eyes slowly opened as three strange noises, like trumpet blasts, came from the direction of the abandoned town. She'd never heard such cries...but they didn't sound friendly.   
  
She had half a mind to move farther away from the ghost town, to protect herself, but then she remembered...Link. He might have gotten her letter. He might have managed to follow her here. He might be in that ghost town right now.  
  
And whatever made those trumpet-like noises might be attacking him.  
  
***  
  
They were completely surrounded. Link and Naziri stood back to back, bravely facing their foes- Lizalfos, more than a dozen. They poured from the alleyways, from building windows, from every shadow in the town square.   
  
Link had faced their kind before. They stood on two legs, as tall as a grown man, covered in green scales and armed with deadly teeth and claws. Their heads, eyes, and snouts were lizard-like, with a lizard's forked tongue. They were amazingly fast, no more than deadly blurs when armed with their small but sharp swords. The Hero of Time could handle a couple of them easily, maybe a couple more with Naziri at his back. But surrounded by a dozen of them, even as he drew the gleaming Master Sword, Link knew they didn't have much of a chance.  
  
But Link and Naziri had even less of a choice. It was either fight or die. The Lizalfos trumpeted loudly, filling the empty town with their cries as Link brought his sword and shield to bear. Behind him he heard Naziri draw her shimmering twin scimitar blades. At the sight of the deadly weapons, the eyes of the Lizalfos narrowed slightly, but they were intelligent enough to know they had the upper hand.  
  
The first of the attackers lunged, its sword ready to impale Link. Instantly he brought his shield up. The shock of the sword blow jarred his shield arm painfully, but fortunately the arm was strong. Reacting without thinking, Link twisted the shield to put the Lizalfo's sword arm off balance, then drove the Master Sword through the creature's middle.  
  
At the shriek of their dying comrade, the others lunged into battle. Naziri let out a bloodcurdling Gerudo war cry as she and Link grimly threw themselves at the Lizalfos, attacking, defending, retreating only to come back and attack again. Their foes darted back and forth in the melee, striking like lightning.   
  
Link remembered his earliest battles against Lizalfos in Dodongo's Cavern, even as he fought now. He had been just a boy then, and in a stroke of genius had used the blinding flash of Deku nuts to momentarily stun his enemies. Now, as a man, his speed was greater, but it was a poor substitute for the speed of his foes. Trying to give him an advantage, Navi darted back and forth before him, using her light to blind the delicate eyes of the attacking Lizalfos.  
  
Link cut down an enemy and risked a glance at Naziri. As a well-trained female warrior, she possessed the touch of extra speed needed to gain an advantage. Even so, Link was uncertain of how long she could hold up her end of the battle. Armed with the twin scimitars, Naziri was a fearful opponent in combat, but Link doubted she'd had much experience in battling foes like these.  
  
Grimly he turned back to the battle, striking, cutting, slashing automatically. His mind raced with memories of past years- his first meeting with Navi as a young boy, collecting the Spiritual Stones, waking in the Chamber of Sages as a man after pulling the Master Sword from its pedestal. He thought of all the sages he had rescued from their temples, especially his good friend Saria. He thought of Zelda, of his meetings with her when she had disguised herself as Sheik, appearing before each temple to teach him a song and then vanishing again. He thought of Ganondorf, and of that apocalyptic battle he had survived against his greatest foe. Survived to see Zelda dedicate herself to rebuilding her kingdom, survived to journey to a new land after she disappeared, survived to meet his comrade in arms and friend Naziri. Survived to be faced with this battle, and maybe die.  
  
He heard Naziri cry out even as he struck down his latest foe, and whirled to find her. She stood backed against a building wall, one scimitar clutched limply in a hand, its sister lying on the ground. Her other hand was pressed tightly over a long gash on her belly. Blood streamed through her fingers, the same blood that stained her attacker's sword. The lone scimitar fell from her fingers and clattered on the stones of the town square.  
  
The Lizalfo raised his sword with a yell of triumph, but the yell was cut off as Link visciously plunged the Master Sword into its back. It fell and died. Link leapt into place in front of Naziri, even as the woman dropped behind him, cold blue eyes searching for his next victim. He shook his golden hair out of his eyes as the remaining Lizalfos, half a dozen, surrounded him and hissed, showing their long tongues. Link and Naziri had dispatched half of their number, but now the Hero of Time's comrade had fallen.  
  
The is the end, Link realized as the remaining foes advanced on him. He stood alone against half a dozen, already battle-worn, with Naziri dying at his feet. What chance did they have left?  
  
A Lizalfo trumpeted and raised his sword, ready to attack.   
  
And suddenly, without warning, a small, dark shape dropped down in front of Link. Startled, both Link and the Lizalfo jumped back, and the newcomer lunged at the monster, no more than a blur. When the lightning-fast movement at last stopped, the Lizalfo lay dead at the newcomer's feet. The blue-clad stranger turned and Link caught a glimpse of golden hair and red eyes over a makeshift mask.  
  
"Zelda?" he whispered.  
  
It _was_ her, wearing Sheik's costume, her short, slim body tense and ready. As a Lizalfo ran forward to attack her, she yanked a long, thin dagger from her belt and darted out of its path, whirling instantly to plunge the dagger into its back. She and her next opponent circled each other, both searching for an opening. She crouched low to the ground, eyes glittering with concentration. The Lizalfo lunged in and she skipped away a bit to slow- the creature's deadly claws slashed her arm visciously.  
  
With her soft cry of pain the spell was broken on Link. Adding to his fury over Naziri, his rage on Zelda's behalf was enough to make him throw himself into the battle with renewed ferocity. He lunged at Zelda's attacker and slashed the monster's back; the Lizalfo whirled and snarled, trying to impale him with its claws.  
  
"Sword!" Zelda snapped.  
  
He tossed her the Master Sword; she caught it deftly and chopped off the monster's head with one clean slice.  
  
The other Lizalfos lunged for them; Zelda forced them back with Link's sword and tossed it to him. She leapt up onto a window sill in the building wall above them as easily as if stepping up a stair.  
  
"We can't beat 'em here!" she yelled. "We can escape to the forest!"  
  
Link thought that might be a good idea, especially with Naziri so terribly wounded. He gathered the fallen Gerudo into his arms and used the longshot to propel them both to the roof, out of reach of the Lizalfos.  
  
Zelda practically flew across the rooftops of the town, followed closely by Link. The Lizalfos leapt onto the rootops one by one to pursue them, but Zelda and Link had already left them far behind. They paused at the end of the roofs as Link gave Naziri to Zelda. He yanked the Ocarina of Time off his belt and quickly played Epona's Song. Navi darted off to hurry the mare along. They returned within moments and Navi zipped up to greet Link, while Epona paced on the ground below them, whinnying nervously.  
  
The Lizalfos trumpeted, catching Link and Zelda's attention. They had caught up and were advancing, swords raised. Zelda dumped Naziri back into Link's arms and lunged at them with her dagger drawn. She cut one down and whirled to face Link, yelling, "Go on!"  
  
He stared at her for a moment, then swung over the edge of the roof and climbed carefully down. He leapt off the wall and landed in Epona's saddle, fixing his grip on Naziri so he could hold her in one arm and grip Epona's rein with the other hand.  
  
He heard the sounds of battle from above, then Zelda appeared in his view, balancing on the edge of the roof.  
  
"Let's go!" he yelled up to her. "Epona can carry all three of us!"  
  
Zelda backflipped neatly off of the roof and reached out a hand; her fingertips caught the edge of a windowsill and broke her fall. She let go and dropped again, landing lightly behind Link in Epona's saddle. The well-trained mare, used to these abrupt comings and goings, held herself still.  
  
Link slapped Epona with both heels and she took off. Zelda gasped and grabbed his waist as they flew into the dark forest, leaving the monsters behind.  
  
"There's a Great Fairy Fountain not far from here," Zelda said, sounding breathless. "I found it behind a waterfall in the Sacred River. Maybe she can heal your Gerudo."  
  
"Her name's Naziri," Link murmured, sick with fear for his friend. The woman was limp in his arms, her eyes closed, her hand still pressed over the gash. Dark blood streamed down Epona's sides in torrents.  
  
Zelda was first to recognize the gurgling sound of the river. "I think it's coming from that direction," she yelled over the sound of Epona's hooves, and pointed to her left. Link prodded Epona with his left toe, and she instantly turned in the right direction. The sound of the stream grew louder.  
  
Navi flew by Epona's ear, filling in the mare of all that had happened in the dark town. Epona was not particularly comprehending of the world of monsters, she being a placid horse. She did understand, from what Navi told her and what she figured out herself, that a friend of her master was hurt, and he wanted to get her to a Great Fairy right away to heal her.  
  
Epona_ loved_ her master. She would do anything for him, go anywhere for him. Even race through a forest in the dead of night, with three burdens on her back and blood soaking her fur. Epona would ride a thousand leagues without resting if her master asked her to. If her master wanted to get to a Great Fairy so she could heal his friend, that was where Epona would take him!  
  
Within a few minutes the horse and her riders had drawn parallel with the rushing river. They galloped upstream as fast as Epona could go, toward a distant roaring sound that surely signaled a waterfall.  
  
At last they were in front of the raging fall. The silver moon shimmered over the dark, foaming water. Link and his companions stumbled off of Epona, and she whinnied, wanting to follow his master where he was going next. He shifted the still body of his injured friend in his arms and stroked Epona's muzzle.   
  
"Stay here," he whispered. "Have some water. We'll be back in a moment."  
  
The mare obediently stayed still, but watched her master carefully as he followed the short woman named Zelda across a few stones in front of the waterfall. They hesitated for a moment, glancing at each other, then leaped through the rushing water.  
  
Epona whinnied forlornly, and Navi came back to keep her company.  
  
***  
  
Zelda was right; it was a Great Fairy Fountain. Shimmering drops of water traveled slowly down the walls as Zelda and Link walked the stone path. At the end of the fountain was a marble pool, filled with crystal-clear water.  
  
Link and Zelda stepped up on the slightly raised platform, the Triforce etched in gold under their feet. Link gently laid Naziri on the rim of the pool, careful not to let any part of her touch the water. Mortals were forbidden to step in the sacred waters of a Great Fairy Fountain, nor touch any of it by their own will or an avoidable accident.  
  
Rising, Link drew the ocarina again and held it to his lips. Quickly he played Zelda's Lullaby, the first song he had ever learned to play on an ocarina, taught to him by the princess's handmaiden, Impa. He had learned over the years to play the lullaby wherever he saw a Triforce symbol, and it was this song that summoned all Great Fairies.  
  
Zelda glanced at him silently, then held a hand over her red eyes and   
whispered, "Change." When she took her hand away, her eyes were their normal dark blue once more. The spell to change her eye color was part of her disguise.  
  
Quickly she unwrapped the cloths covering her face and hair. Golden tresses fell halfway down her back, and her pale face was fully revealed. Link glanced at her and bit his lip, then looked toward the fountain with bated breath.  
  
A laugh echoed suddenly through the walls of the fountain, the voice of it low and female. Without warning the extraordinary Great Fairy burst from the depths of the pool, showering them with the sacred water. She laughed again as her bright eyes focused on the awed Zelda and Link, and a dainty hand flipped her red hair over her shoulder. She bent her waist and crossed her legs in midair, as if sitting on a floating, invisible chair.  
  
She smiled down at them. "Welcome, Hero of Time and the Seventh Sage," she greeted them. "I am the Great Fairy of Magic. Have you come to learn a spell from me?"  
  
"No, Great Fairy," Link answered respectfully. "Our comrade was injured in battle. Please, can you heal her?"  
  
The Great Fairy noticed Naziri and drifted down to brush her forehead with one hand. "Poor mortal," the fairy cried. "Of course, I will be glad to heal your friend."  
  
Relieved, Link sighed. "Thank you, Great Fairy."  
  
The fairy smiled, then drifted up into the air a bit. She reached out her hands, palms up, and from her fingertips flowed a stream of glittering light. The light engulfed the still Naziri, glowing so brightly that Link and Zelda were forced to look away. The Great Fairy clapped her hands and the light vanished, leaving only Naziri, with a shining, pink scar on her belly where the gash had been.  
  
Slowly Naziri's green eyes opened. She sat up, touching her head gingerly with one hand. Link rushed to support her, but she seemed healthy enough, if a bit dizzy. She stared at him, then past him at Zelda, then finally up to where the Great Fairy still floated. Her mouth fell open.  
  
The Great Fairy smiled. "Welcome, Gerudo sister."  
  
Naziri only stared. Link smiled a bit and said, "This is the Great Fairy of Magic. She healed you."  
  
Naziri looked down at the pink scar, touching it wondrously with one hand. Then she looked back up at the fairy. "Thank you," she said sincerely.  
  
"It was my pleasure." The Great Fairy looked at Link. "Come back to visit me, Hero of Time, if you'd like to learn a new spell!" With a final laugh, she dove back into the fountain, vanishing with hardly a ripple under the sacred waters.  
  
Naziri blinked. Zelda came forward a bit, looking concerned. "Are you all right?" she asked Naziri.  
  
The woman stared at her with the uncertainty all Gerudo hold toward strangers. "I'm fine. Who are you?"  
  
Zelda smiled slightly, but it was Link who introduced them. "Naziri, this is Queen Zelda of Hyrule," he announced, ignoring Zelda's glare. "She saved our lives after you fell in the battle. Zelda, this is Naziri, a Gerudo sister I met here in Pinnasi."  
  
Naziri gasped and jumped to her feet. "You're the queen? The one who holds the Triforce of Wisdom?"  
  
Zelda made a face at Link. "Well, it was a nice secret, while it lasted."  
  
"I didn't tell her," he protested. "She already knew."  
  
Naziri leaned her weight on Link, looking extremely weary. "This is all well and good," she said, "but could we possibly get out of here? I'm so tired...I just want to lie down."  
  
Zelda frowned. "I thought the Great Fairy healed her."  
  
Gently Link swung Naziri up in his arms. "She'll be fine. She just needs to sleep for a while."  
  
Zelda nodded thoughtfully. Naziri looked worried. "Maybe I should try to stay awake. Won't the Lizalfos come after us?"  
  
"The Lizalfos won't come by, nor will any monster, if we stay close to the fountain," Zelda assured her. "This is a sacred place."  
  
"Go to sleep," Link told Naziri quietly. "I'll be okay without you for a day or two."  
  
Naziri grinned a bit even as her eyes closed. "Yeah right," she murmured, and went to sleep.  
  
***  
  
When Naziri woke up, she was lying on the ground with a thick blanket under her and another over her. Her vision was filled with horse muzzle. She blinked, confused, as the muzzle moved. A gentle nudge at her side was Epona, apparently concerned about the health of her master's companion. The mare carefully nuzzled and nudged, plainly checking Naziri's whithers and flanks. Epona at last gave a whicker, pronouncing Naziri fit, and let the Gerudo sit up.  
  
"I didn't know you cared," Naziri told the mare. Epona whinnied and gently pushed on her shoulder, then trotted off to graze. Naziri glanced at her left and saw Link sitting before a fire with his sword in his lap, watching the whole process with a broad grin.  
  
She glared at him. "I'm sure this is all very amusing for you," she said dryly, hiding trembling hands under the blanket.  
  
He pushed his hair out of his eyes and winked at her, then went back to cleaning his sword. She looked around. They were camped in a clearing not far from the waterfall, judging by the loud roaring Naziri could hear. A makeshift tent was at her right, and another bedroll was laid out on the opposite side of the fire. Naziri, Link, and Epona were the only occupants of the clearing. Even Navi had found somewhere else to be.  
  
"Where's Queen Zelda?" Naziri asked. "And Navi?"  
  
Link shrugged. "Zelda went back to the ghost town a few hours ago to see if there were any supplies to raid. I think Navi went to chat with the Great Fairy."  
  
"But wait a second, what about the Lizalfos?" Naziri cried.  
  
Link smiled. "Don't worry about them. Zelda and I went back yesterday and took care of the rest. There were only four left, so it was no problem once we recovered. And look-" He showed her the twin scimitars. "We got these back for you."  
  
"Thank you." Naziri frowned. "How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"Three days."  
  
"Three_ days?_"  
  
Link shrugged. "You were injured. Even with the Great Fairy's help, you still had to recover your energy."  
  
Naziri looked down, her lip trembling. When she'd gotten herself under control, she said quietly, "You must think I'm a real disgrace, fainting in the middle of a battle and leaving you to fight alone."  
  
Link stared at her. Apparently he hadn't expected that. Naziri fidgeted.  
  
"Why in Din's name would I think that?" Link demanded, frowning. "You're not a disgrace. You were injured, and badly, too."  
  
Naziri stared at her hands. "Don't remind me. In my Gerudo clan, if there was a battle and a warrior was injured so badly, and survived, then she would be labeled useless. They would take away her scimitars and her place as a warrior of the clan. They'd station her somewhere where she couldn't be seen for the rest of her life, in the kitchens or the nursery." She sighed. "According to Gerudo custom, I should just leave you now and make my life alone."  
  
Link stared at her in alarm. "I can't believe I'm hearing this," he exclaimed. "No one wants you to leave. You're an asset to me, and you're a great fighter. Maybe you could improve with some effort, but so could anybody. You were injured. None of this is your fault."   
  
"It is my fault," she protested. "I let myself be injured. Rajeh was right, I'm not a competent anything."  
  
Link was silent.  
  
Naziri sighed. "I don't mean to feel sorry for myself. But..." She had to swallow the lump in her throat before she could continue. It never occured to her before now just how much Link's opinion of her meant.   
  
"It's hard to forget your past," she muttered, staring at her hands. "The Gerudo don't understand. Or maybe it's me who doesn't understand. My sisters have a strict code. By Gerudo standards, I'm no longer fit to be a warrior."   
  
"I'm not one of your Gerudo sisters," Link told her patiently. "You're right- they do have a strict code. A little too strict, if you ask me. No one can be a perfect warrior all the time, not even Gerudo." He sighed. "If you want to leave, that's your choice. But I want you to stay."   
  
Naziri looked into his blue eyes and saw that he was sincere. "Thank you," she whispered. "Not just for saving me, but, you know...for everything."  
  
Link smiled at her. "Thank you for staying with me all this time. I know it's been hard, traveling all over the place, but now that we've found Zelda..."   
  
Naziri saw the wistful look in his eyes and smiled. "Link?" she asked. "Where are we going next?"  
  
"Hyrule, I suppose." He smiled broadly, and she grinned back. "Home at last."  
  
***  
  
To be continued... 


	9. Hyrule

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself...  
  
_Well, here it is, Chapter 9 of _The Triforce United_. Sorry it took me so long to get this out. I've got a million other pet projects that I'm working on (or would like to start working on) plus school and all. And I feel a need to revise this story before I get it out, to make sure it's a piece of quality workmanship.  
  
Anyway. I don't own Zelda, Miyamoto-san does. Enjoy the story, and please review!  
  


  
***  
  
**The Triforce United  
  
*****  
  
Hyrule  


  
  
n Hyrule Castle, Carlita woke to the sound of screaming.  
  
She bolted out of bed without fulling waking and stumbled blindly out of her room next to the missing queen's. Once in the red-carpeted, deserted hallway, she realized that a thick cloud of smoke was hanging overhead. She coughed loudly, her eyes tearing immediately, and fumbled in the pocket of her nightdress for a hankercheif. She pressed the cloth over her nose and mouth and staggered down the hallway to the window by the stairs.  
  
The glass was stained brown by the smoke, and it was only by tugging with all her might that Carlita got it open. The south and east towers were burning, the flames apparently spreading to Carlita's wing. Below in the courtyard, men, women, and children ran back and forth in panic. Carlita watched in horror as a screaming man stumbled into the courtyard, his clothes on fire. He fell to the ground in agony.  
  
Carlita turned from the window, feeling as though she was about to vomit. She repressed the surge of bile and dropped to her knees. She crawled to the stairs and slid down one step at a time like a little child, trying to keep herself from coughing too violently. Blindly she crawled through another hallway and down another flight of stairs, unsure of where she was going.  
  
Perhaps something was guiding her, because when Carlita managed to raise her head and get a view of her surroundings, she was at the top of the stairs in the great foyer. The silent room was free of any smoke.  
  
Carlita slowly rose to her feet, her knees shaking. She stumbled down a few steps and stopped. There was a man standing in the foyer.  
  
The man was very tall and olive-skinned and red-haired, a sardonic sneer twisting his lips as he gazed at something on the wall. From her view, Carlita could see that it was Queen Zelda's mural. As she watched, the man slowly raised a tightly clenched fist, and Carlita caught a glimpse of the back of his hand. What she saw there made her cold with horror. The Triforce mark was etched on the man's   
hand.  
  
Carlita was a Hylian, and knew what every Hylian knew. Exactly three people bore the Triforce mark on their hands. One was Queen Zelda. The other was Link, the Hero of Time. And the last was Ganondorf.  
  
Ganondorf, the King of Evil, was standing in Queen Zelda's foyer.  
  
Carlita clasped her hands tightly over her mouth to keep from screaming and stumbled back. So far Ganondorf hadn't noticed her. If she just kept quiet, maybe she could get away. But if he saw her...  
  
Ganondorf turned. He looked at her as if he'd known she was there all along. His cold eyes fixed on her. And Carlita was frozen, silent, rigid, unable to move, unable to make a sound. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream for help. But she was frozen in utter terror.   
  
Ganondorf saw her.  
  
And he smiled.  
  
***  
  
Four days later, Link, Zelda, Naziri, Epona, and Navi made it to Hyrule field at last.  
  
Well, we certainly make an interesting company, Link thought, glancing at his companions. There was Link himself, the Hero of Time, who everyone in Hyrule knew, Zelda, the runaway queen disguised as a Sheikah male, Naziri, the renegade Gerudo...and Link's mare and fairy.  
  
They'd crossed the Haunted Wastelands easily with Naziri's help after the long voyage from Pinnasi to Hyrule. Getting to Hyrule field required passing through Hyrule's Gerudo fortress. The Gerudo women seemed happy to see their honorary member, but Link was curious to note that they'd all glared at Naziri. Naziri herself hadn't seemed to take much notice, although she'd been amused to discover that Link was considered clan to the Hyrulian Gerudo.  
  
Zelda was fast asleep on Epona's back by the time the travelers entered Hyrule field. It turned out that her body didn't respond well to sea voyages, and she needed time to regain the energy she'd lost along with her meals over the side of the boat.  
  
Naziri walked beside Link, staring all around the vast field with wide eyes. Navi was darting around Link's head joyfully, apparently glad to be home.  
  
"I've never seen anything like it," Naziri said, commenting on Hyrule field. "It's almost like the desert, only with lots of green."  
  
Link glanced at Naziri and grinned in response. When he faced forward again, a green-haired child stood before him.  
  
"Saria!" Link yelled in utter astonishment.  
  
Naziri practically fell over when she saw Saria. "Where'd she come from?!" the Gerudo demanded.  
  
Saria giggled. "Hello, Link."  
  
Link sat down hard. Naziri was staring back and forth at him and Saria. "She...her name is Saria," Link said wearily to Naziri. "She's my old friend. She's the Sage of Forest."  
  
"A child is a sage?" Naziri gasped.  
  
"She's Kokiri. They don't grow up, remember?"  
  
"Oh," Naziri said vaguely, looking confused. Then, "Oh."  
  
Saria smiled serenely. Link's friend was green-haired and blue-eyed, wearing a green Kokiri tunic and skirt. "Hello, Link," she repeated. "Hello, Naziri."  
  
Link didn't question how Saria knew Naziri's name. Neither did Naziri. "What are you doing here, Saria?" he demanded. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you. But I thought you were in the Sacred Realm, doing...um...sagely things."   
  
Saria giggled again. She was the only Kokiri Link knew with a sense of humor. Then she instantly sobered. "I have a message for you from the goddesses," Saria told Link seriously.   
  
"What is it?"  
  
Saria's blue eyes darted to the sleeping Zelda, then to Link. "You mustn't take Zelda back to Hyrule Castle. She'll be in danger if she goes there. You'll all be in danger. Find someplace else to take your companions. Find a safe place. You may need to hide for a while." Her eyes were grave.  
  
"Why?" Link demanded. "Can't you tell me what happened?"  
  
Saria shook her head. "No. You'll find out for yourself." She looked around at Link's mismatched group. "Do you have a safe haven in mind?"  
  
Link thought of Malon, and the Lon Lon Ranch. "Yes."  
  
"Good." Saria nodded. "I must go. Goodbye for now."  
  
Without another word, Saria changed into a shining sphere of green light, which exploded quite suddenly in a thousand dazzling green sparks, which in turn dissolved into nothing.  
  
"Your friend knows how to make an exit," Naziri commented.  
  
***  
  
They traveled for the rest of the day, following the dirt paths across the vast Hyrule field as quickly as they could. Link's feelings of foreboding had returned, and he was anxious to get Zelda someplace safe before he investigated them.  
  
The sky was starting to turn pink when they were close to Lon Lon Ranch. There was one more hill to climb, and then Link and his companions would be able to see the north end of Hyrule field, and Hyrule Castle. Link watched Navi carefully as she scouted ahead of them, flying to the top of the hill and then...stopped.  
  
The instant she halted, Link knew something was wrong. Navi was never still. But she was hovering, motionless, at the top of the hill, shining like a beacon in the fading sunlight.  
  
"Something's wrong," Link muttered to the daydreaming Naziri. She snapped out of her daze and stared at him in surprise as he headed rapidly up the hill. Just before he topped the hill, he thought he smelled something burning. The cool air had an acridic taste.  
  
But then he crested the hill, and all thoughts simply fell away. Hyrule Castle, glorious Hyrule Castle, was nothing now but a wrecked, smoking ruin.  
  
Every tower of the castle was toppled over. Every stone torn down. Every carpet, every tapestry, every treasure ruined by fire. Link fell to his knees and simply stared at it, disbelieving.   
  
He was only partially aware when Naziri came to stand beside him. He heard her softly muttered, "Oh, goddesses..." But he did not give a response.  
  
It was Epona who broke the shocked silence. Cresting the hill behind Link and Naziri, she gave a loud whinny of alarm at the sight of the ruined castle. Link lunged at her and clamped a hand over her muzzle.  
  
Zelda stirred, but did not wake.  
  
Link breathed again. "Don't do that," he whispered fiercely to his mare. "You'll wake her. And if she sees this..."  
  
Epona laid her ears back at the very thought. They both knew exactly what Zelda would do. She'd storm off to the castle to exact her revenge, and probably kill herself in the process.  
  
"Maybe we should get to this 'safe haven' of yours, Link," Naziri whispered fearfully.  
  
Link nodded grimly and took a hold of Epona's rein. He led the way to Lon Lon Ranch, forcing himself to direct his gaze away from the ruined castle.  
  
***  
  
Lon Lon Ranch was just as Link remembered it. He'd feared that the ranch might have somehow shared the same fate as the castle, but that was not so. The ranch was neat and well-kept, the grasses trimmed and the iron fence ringing the horses' field polished. The well-bred Lon Lon horses galloped happily about in their field, and Link could hear cows mooing in the stable to the right. But the animals presented the only signs of life.  
  
Link led Epona with a firm hand on her rein, walking slowly so as not to disturb Zelda, who slept peacefully on the mare's back. Epona seemed happy to be back in her old ranch. She was conversing enthusiastically with Navi in her language of whickers and soft whinnies. Naziri walked beside Link, filled with her natural curiousity at a new place.   
  
Link was worried. Malon, the young Lon Lon rancher, was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Malon!" he yelled. "Malon?"  
  
Naziri stroked Epona's mane nervously. There were a few moments of silence, then the stable door swung open and the short, pretty, red-haired Malon came out, wiping her hands with a cloth. "Yes, yes, I'm here..." Then she saw Link and his companions. "Link!"  
  
Malon flung the cloth aside and jumped into his arms; Link swung her around joyfully and then set her down. She grinned up at him, then shoved him away playfully.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she demanded, retrieving the cloth and swatting him with it. "You never come and see me anymore! What's it been...six moons?" Her blue eyes were dancing.  
  
"I've been traveling," Link admitted, grinning apologetically. "I went south to the island of Pinnasi."  
  
Malon swatted him again. "And he doesn't even send me a postcard," she grumbled. Then her eyes went past Link and focused on his companions. "Ooh, visitors. Hi!" She gave a friendly wave to Naziri.  
  
Naziri blushed, fidgeted, and mumbled a hello. Then she caught Link grinning at her and gave him a death glare.  
  
"Malon, this is my friend Naziri," Link said, winking at the Gerudo. "I met her in Pinnasi and she was brave enough to come home with me."  
  
Malon tossed the cloth aside again and moved forward to shake Naziri's hand. "I never had a Gerudo visit my ranch," she confessed. "I'm honored. How'd a pretty girl like you end up in the company of this loser?" She indicated Link with a jerk of her head.  
  
Naziri had a difficult time stifling her laughter. "He needed my help to get out of the Gerudo fortress in Pinnasi," she confided to Malon.  
  
Link scowled at them. "I did not. I could've gotten out of there on my own."  
  
"I think he has a thing for Gerudo," Malon told Naziri in a stage whisper. "He's always getting in trouble with you ladies."  
  
Link grabbed the cloth that Malon had dropped and threw it at the two women. Malon caught it deftly and grinned at him, then turned to greet Epona.  
  
"How's my baby?" she exclaimed, caressing the horse's muzzle while Epona snorted happily. "Is Link treating you right?"  
  
Epona nodded vigorously. Malon laughed, then caught sight of the sleeping Zelda on Epona's back. Her eyes widened in surprise, but not recognition, as the queen was still disguised as Sheik.  
  
"Who's this guy?" she asked Link.  
  
Link and Naziri exchanged an uneasy glance.  
  
"If you trust her enough to hide Zelda, then you can trust her enough to hide Zelda's identity," Navi pointed out in a whisper.  
  
Link nodded, then turned to Malon. The ranch girl was watching him solemnly. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Malon. I didn't come here for just a visit. I...I need a favor."  
  
"Anything," Malon promised instantly.  
  
Link gestured toward his sleeping friend. "Malon, this is Zelda. The queen."  
  
Malon only stared.  
  
Naziri smiled slightly as Link sighed wearily. "She's in disguise. She dresses up from time to time as a Sheikah male to hide her identity, when it's nessecary. Malon, did you see what happened to the castle?"  
  
An expression of great sorrow passed through Malon's eyes as she nodded. "Yes." Her gaze flickered to Zelda, then to Naziri, then to Link again. "You want me to hide her."  
  
"Yes," Link said grimly. "I don't know what's at the castle. But Saria...the Sage of Forest...she appeared to me and told me that I can't bring Zelda there. I have to hide her. And you're the only one I can really trust in Hyrule right now."   
  
"Of course I'll hide her." Malon glanced uncertainly at her house. "Um...she can have my bed." She looked at Link and Naziri. "I don't know about you two..."  
  
"I can sleep outside," Link and Naziri said in unison.  
  
Malon smiled slightly. "Let me stable Epona and get the queen settled. And then...Link...I have to show you something." The sorrow was present in her eyes again.  
  
"I can take care of Queen Zelda and Epona," Naziri offered instantly.   
  
Malon looked relieved. "Thanks. My room's upstairs...it's the only bedroom in the house. You can put Epona in the horse's field out there." She pointed to the fenced area. Malon then grabbed Link's hand and dragged toward the stable. Behind him he heard Zelda stir and mutter something, and Naziri coaxing her into the house.  
  
Malon guided him to a small, enclosed area behind the stable that Link hadn't even known was there. A tiny headstone marked a fresh grave.  
  
Malon stepped in front of him before Link could see who's grave it was. "Link..." She looked at him sorrowfully.  
  
"Who is it?" He swallowed hard.  
  
Malon fidgeted, looking helpless. Then, "You knew Carlita, didn't you? From   
the palace?"  
  
Link moved back a step. "How?" he whispered, his mouth dry.  
  
"She came to me," Malon said quietly. "How she managed to get all the way from the castle to the ranch is beyond me. She was burned horribly on her face and hands, and she was coughing up blood by the time she reached me. I think she was   
beyond pain, at that point."  
  
There were tears in Malon's eyes as she continued. "She was...tortured, you see. I didn't want to believe it. But I know she was telling the truth. She was dying...and she was trying to...to warn..."  
  
"What?" he asked in a raspy voice, already knowing the answer.  
  
Malon looked at him, and their eyes met, and she said one word.   
  
"Ganondorf."  



	10. Taking Action

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself..._  
  
I'm so proud of myself. Why, you ask? Because I'm writing the ending to this story (yippee!). I haven't actually gotten to the ending, mind. I'm a little more than three-quarters through. But when I'm writing I tend to jump around and write important scenes before they actually happen in the timeline of the story, as a way of motivating myself to get to them.  
  
So what this means is, now I know that I'm going to finish the story (which will surely make all you readers happy). Plus the ending is going great, it's very dramatic and suspenseful and all that. Lots of cliffhangers (I know how you guys love those, heheh).  
  
Anyway this is a shorter chapter, but the next one's pretty cool, so stay tuned. Enjoy, and please review!  
  


  
***  


  


**The Triforce United**  


  


***  


  
  


Taking Action  


  
  
In the general confusion that followed, Link managed to get the whole story out of Malon, as it had been told to her by Carlita.  
  
Apparently it had happened four nights ago. Carlita had woken to find the castle   
burning and chaos reigning. Either by some horrible fate or just misfortune, she'd made her way through the castle and into the foyer, where Ganondorf was waiting. He'd tortured her to find Zelda's location. Carlita had told him the simple truth- that she didn't know where Zelda was, and the queen probably wasn't even in Hyrule. Upon hearing this, the furious Ganondorf had left her to die and torn the castle to pieces. She'd dragged herself from the castle to Lon Lon Ranch, where she'd warned Malon before she died. There was nothing Malon could do to save her.  
  
Naziri, who was privy to the discussion, pointed out the obvious- they couldn't tell Zelda what happened.   
  
"It's impossible to keep it from her forever," Malon reminded them. "Sooner or later she'll see the castle, or Carlita's grave, or something. Then she'll know."  
  
"I know," Link said, grimacing. "But maybe we can keep it from her long enough...long enough for me to come up with some sort of plan, anyway."  
  
"Can't you...I don't know...storm the castle and fight him again?" Naziri suggested, partially serious. "Make sure he'd really dead this time?"  
  
Link smiled grimly. "It's not that simple. He may have some sort of new power in his grasp." He spread his hands helplessly and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How did he get out of the void?"  
  
***  
  
Zelda slept in Malon's room throughout the day and into the night. Malon retired in the fenced area with her beloved horses, and Link took up residence in the stable. He'd offered Naziri that spot, but she preferred to sleep outside, under the stars. She leaned against the front wall of Malon's house and went to sleep, cocooned in a thick blanket.  
  
She didn't hear when the door to the house opened and Zelda slipped quietly out. She didn't hear when the queen padded silently across the grass behind the stable, retracing the steps that Malon and Link had took earlier that day.  
  
***  
  
_Link was surprised when Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit, appeared in his dream.  
  
"Hello," Nabooru greeted him, looking as beautiful and aloof as always.  
  
"Um...hi." Link's eyes narrowed. "Are you really Nabooru?"  
  
The Gerudo laughed. "I'm the real thing," she assured him. "There's no goddesses hiding under this." She indicated herself. "Although I do come with a message."  
  
"Great," Link muttered wearily. "What is it this time?"  
  
Nabooru smiled slightly. "I'll get to that. But in the meantime, you should be happy to know that I stole this from Ganondorf." She held up a hand. Throbbing in it was a glowing, red triangle.  
  
"You got the Triforce of Power!" Link exclaimed, astounded.  
  
Nabooru nodded. "I'm shocked that I had a chance to put my thieving experience to use," she added, preening herself. "I thought that once I became a sage, those days were over. But it was a simple task to relieve my brother of this little relic."  
  
Link closed his eyes in relief. "Thank the goddesses."  
  
There was silence. Then, "It won't stop him."  
  
Link's eyes snapped open. "Wait a second, what are you saying?" he demanded in alarm.  
  
"I'm saying that there is another power," Nabooru replied simply. "We have the Triforce, but there is still power."  
  
There was something about Nabooru's choice of words that bothered Link. It was as if she was suggesting there was another party involved. But Nabooru spoke again before he could ask.  
  
"I have to go now," Nabooru said. "The message..."  
  
"What is it?" Link asked, feeling that this was probably more important.  
  
She smiled slightly. "When you wake, send Naziri to me. The goddesses and I must speak with her. Don't ask why," she added quickly. "Just send her to my temple. Got that? Send her to the Spirit Temple, when you wake."  
  
Link nodded. "I will."  
  
Nabooru's voice faded as her form grew dim. "Goodbye for now, Link," she said, just as Saria had. "Luck to you."  
  
She went away, and Link fell into a deeper, dreamless sleep.  
_  
***  
  
Either by fate or pure dumb luck, Naziri woke just as Zelda was slipping out of Lon Lon Ranch.  
  
The Gerudo watched her through lidded eyes as she silently made her way out of the ranch. Once she was gone, Naziri rose quietly to her feet and followed her out into   
Hyrule field.  
  
The moon was high in the dark sky, casting a pale glow over the shimmering blades of grass. Naziri paused behind a tree near the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch and watched as Zelda stared wordlessly at her ruined castle.  
  
The queen fell to her knees, clenching her fists tightly. Then, just as suddenly, she rose and began to make her way toward the castle. At that moment Naziri might have called to her, gone after her, tried to intercept her. But something else beat her to it.  
  
From the sky fell a shimmering sphere of silver light, which stopped directly in front of Zelda. Zelda jumped back in surprise as the silver light took shape, forming a tall, hard-looking, silver-haired woman who was dressed in garments not unlike Zelda's Sheikah disguise.  
  
"Impa!" Zelda exclaimed, apparently astonished.  
  
Naziri was astonished as well. She remembered Link mentioning something about Zelda's former handmaiden. These days, Impa resided in the Sacred Realm as the Sage of Shadow.  
  
Impa wasted no time on pleasantries. Fortunately, the wind was blowing toward Naziri, carrying with it the conversation between the two women. "This is folly, Zelda," she hissed, red eyes flashing. "You _know_ who is waiting for you at the castle." It wasn't a question.  
  
"Ganondorf," Zelda whispered bitterly, clenching her fists.  
  
"Yes, Ganondorf," Impa said heatedly. "If he finds you, he'll kill you."  
  
"Not if I kill him first."  
  
"What makes you think you can do that? He has great power, Zelda. You must understand how foolish this is."  
  
"I don't care!" Zelda's eyes were blazing. "I saw the grave behind the stable, Impa. That's Carlita's grave. That's _my friend_ buried in the dirt. Maybe if the goddesses had taken some action sooner instead of allowing him to escape, Carlita would still be here. Go back to the goddesses and tell them that if I die, it'll be their fault!"  
  
Impa's eyes narrowed, but it was Zelda who spoke again, dangerously. "Don't try to stop me, Impa. You know that you can't."  
  
The tense silence between the women stretched for ages. Naziri stared wide-eyed back and forth at them, wondering if all hell was about to break loose.  
  
Then Impa stepped down. "I won't try to stop you, Zelda," she said simply.  
  
Zelda nodded, stepped past her, and sprinted toward the castle without another word. Impa watched her go.  
  
Then something strange happened. Impa turned. She looked at Naziri. She looked _directly_ at Naziri, without a change in her expression, as if she'd known the Gerudo was there all along.  
  
Naziri stared back at her. Then she turned and darted to the ranch.  
  
***  
  
At Lon Lon Ranch, Naziri flung open the door of the stable and found Link lying asleep on the floor with a hand clutching the handle of his sword. The tense position in which he slept told Naziri that no matter how subtle she was, she'd find herself at the blade end of that weapon if she tried to wake him.   
  
Fortunately, now was not the time for subtlety. Naziri moved to him and kicked him sharply in his side.  
  
Link yelped and bolted upright, swinging the sword blindly and missing Naziri by a mile. He focused on her with a deadly scowl and opened his mouth as if ready to bellow   
his lungs out at her.   
  
But Naziri beat him. "Zelda's gone to the castle to find Ganondorf."  
  
Link's eyes widened, and he cursed so loudly that the cows began lowing in alarm.  
  
***  
  
To be continued... 


	11. Paths Taken

A note from the Hime no Argh herself...  
  
Sorry I took a while in getting this out, but here it is. I've been so busy lately between trying to finish this, doing school stuff, and working on other ficcish projects (ha-cha...think Jackie Chan Adventures). Anyway I'm uploading two chapters today because they go hand-in-hand, and I would have uploaded them as just one chapter but AOL doesn't support that much text or something like that.   
  
Zelda belongs to Miyamoto-sama (yes, today he's a sama) and not to me. Enjoy, review, yadda. You know the drill. ^_~  
  
  


***  


  
  


**The Triforce United**  


  
  


***  


  
  


Paths Taken  


  
  
Link, Malon, and Naziri met in front of the gates of the horses' field.  
  
Link was rapidly saddling Epona, muttering a storm of colorful language. A hassled-looking Malon was trying to lace the open collar of her nightdress and listening wide-eyed as Naziri filled her in on everything that had happened. Naziri herself was pacing back and forth tensely as she explained, her scimitars drawn and clenched tightly in each hand.   
  
Navi appeared suddenly, zipping down from the sky to hover before Link, her wings beating frantically. "I searched the field for her from here to the castle," Navi said, gasping. "She must have already gotten there."  
  
Link nodded as he clinched Epona's final strap. The mare was snorting and stomping nervously, ready to take her master where he needed to go. Then, to everyone's surprise, Link turned to Naziri.  
  
"Naziri, I want you to take Epona south as fast as you can," he said as calmly as possible. "Go to the Gerudo fortress- no, listen to me," he commanded as Naziri attempted to interrupt him. "Go to the Gerudo fortress in the south and follow the red flags through the Haunted Wastelands. The flags will lead you to the Desert Colossus and the Spirit Temple. Nabooru is waiting there for you."  
  
Naziri stared at him, wide-eyed. "But...how..."  
  
"Just do it, all right?" he ordered with a slight edge to his voice.  
  
Malon's gaze darted between them. "Isn't there anything I can do?"  
  
"No, Malon," Link said grimly. "No point in us all getting ourselves killed. You'd better stay here." He was removing things from the bags on Epona's back as he spoke- the hookshot, his bow, and a quiver of arrows. Then he simply yanked the bags off and dumped them in the dirt.  
  
"Epona will get you south as quickly as possible," Link told Naziri.   
  
"But wait a minute, what about you?" Naziri cried. "Shouldn't you use Epona to get to the castle?"  
  
Link smiled slightly and showed her the Ocarina of Time. "I have a quicker method   
of transportation."  
  
Naziri stared at him, uncomprehending, but there was no time to explain. "What are you waiting for?" he demanded in a growl, and she quickly swung herself into Epona's saddle.  
  
Malon slapped the mare's rump. "Go on, darling," she ordered, and Epona obediently took off, carrying Naziri out of the ranch and out of sight.  
  
Malon turned to Link then, wide-eyed. "Link..."  
  
"I'll be all right," he quickly assured her. His eyes flashing, he added, "I can't say the same for Zelda. If she's not dead by the time I find her, I'll murder her myself."  
  
Malon smiled faintly. "Be careful."  
  
Link briefly placed a hand on her hair. "I will," he said softly, and stepped away from her. As Malon watched solemnly, he rapidly played the Prelude of Light, taught to him by Zelda herself, back when she'd been disguised as Sheik.  
  
The world around him was dissolving even before he'd finished the final note. The ranch was disappearing, melting into a bright golden light. Then, with a shock that made his head spin, Link was standing in the Temple of Time.  
  
***  
  
Naziri rode hard and fast, the thundering of Epona's hooves pounding through her skull. She was not looking forward to the task at hand.  
  
Naziri was afraid. She was afraid for her friends, she was afraid for herself. She was afraid she'd end up face to face with Ganondorf. She was afraid she'd be injured, maybe killed. She was afraid that her friends would be killed, and she wouldn't be able to help them.  
  
Naziri gritted her teeth and pushed away the fears. She was a Gerudo warrior. Gerudo were unafraid. Gerudo were powerful.  
  
It was surprisingly easy to push away her fears. But Naziri supposed that was because there was one large fear hanging in her mind. She was afraid to face her sisters of Hyrule.  
  
Grimly Naziri prodded Epona with her toes, urging her to ride faster into the Gerudo Valley. Horse and rider stampeded over the wooden bridge spanning the river gorge and straight into the fortress without hesitation.  
  
The Gerudo of Hyrule's clan cried out in surprise as Naziri and Epona thundered through the fortress and towards the Haunted Wastelands. But Naziri sensed it before she saw it. The gate to the Haunted Wastelands was closed.  
  
A multitude of purple-clad warriors rushed to cut her off. They formed a crowd in front of the gate, gripping their scimitar staffs and glaring at Naziri with righteous anger. Epona wheeled sharply away from them and trotted back a few yards, then turned to face the Gerudo again.  
  
Naziri clutched the reins so tightly that her knuckles were white. "Get out of my way," she snapped. "I have to get to the Desert Colossus."  
  
The crowd of warriors did not waver an inch. One Gerudo, clad in white garments, stepped forward and scowled angrily at her.  
  
"I am Antaq," the woman announced, "headsister of the Hyrule clan after Our Most   
Exalted Sister Nabooru. I demand that you turn your horse and leave this minute." Her mouth set in an ugly sneer, she added, "I know what you are. You are a renegade. An outsider. A disgrace. No honorable Gerudo leaves her sisters."  
  
"You can insult me all you like," Naziri said grimly, "but move. You don't understand. I have to get to the Spirit Temple. The fate of the world may depend on it. Nabooru herself summoned me!"  
  
"Boastful child!" the headsister cried. "Turn yourself around. The Exalted Nabooru is a true, honorable Gerudo. She'd have nothing to do with you."  
  
"You don't understand," Naziri repeated desperately. "People may be dying. Link may be dying. He's the one who sent me! He was told by Nabooru to send me!"  
  
Antaq's dark eyes flickered. "Did he wish to insult us by sending a disgrace? Why did he not come himself?"  
  
"Because he may be battling Ganondorf right now to save _your_ sorry lives!"  
  
A simultaneous gasp went through the crowd. Antaq, her eyes wide, sputtered, "You must be joking! The Evil King is imprisoned in the void!"  
  
"Not anymore he isn't." Naziri clenched her fists.  
  
Antaq spat in the dirt. "You lie. Get out of this fortress. We will not allow disgraces to-"  
  
_"Get out of my way, you stupid woman!"_ Naziri bellowed.  
  
Instantly many outraged yells went up from the Gerudo. "How dare you!" Antaq   
shrieked, her eyes wide with shock.  
  
"Take her down!"  
  
"Kill the bitch!"  
  
Antaq and her warriors moved forward, but Naziri had had enough. In one   
lightning-fast movement, she drew her gleaming scimitars, lunged at Antaq, and pressed both blades to the woman's throat.  
  
"Get out of my way," she snapped. "Get out of my way, all of you, or your headsister will no longer have a head."  
  
The Gerudo looked at each other, wide-eyed, unsure. Antaq held herself very still.  
  
"I mean it," she threatened, pressing the blades so tight that she drew blood from Antaq's throat.  
  
It in was that tense moment that another Gerudo elbowed her way through the crowd and stopped about a yard from Naziri and Antaq. She was clad in a pink, strapless top that barely succeeded in shielding her breasts, full, pink leggings, and pink gloves rimmed with gold and laid with dark metal buttons. Her long red hair was tied back in a ponytail, held by a gold ornament with a precious gem set in it.  
  
"Stop this madness," the newcomer commanded, and Naziri dropped her scimitars in shock and awe. She knew who this Gerudo was. They all knew.  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	12. The Triforce of Power

_A note from the Hime no Argh-  
  
_Here's Chapter 12 for your reading pleasure. Keep those reviews coming!  
  


  
  
***  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
***  
  
  
The Triforce of Power  
  


  
Antaq whirled around and stared in shock, her mouth gaping like a fish's. "Nabooru!" she finally managed to spit out.  
  
Naziri stared at the beautiful sage, eyes wide, but Nabooru was focused on Antaq. "You stupid woman," she growled. "How dare you treat a sister this way?"  
  
"But...but..." Antaq sputtered. "Sh-she's a disgrace! A renegade!"  
  
There was a hateful silence. Naziri twisted her hands behind her back. She'd   
hoped that somehow Nabooru wouldn't know. But that was idiotic.  
  
Nabooru then stalked forward and grasped Antaq's chin in one hand. "When someone tells you that I have summoned her," the sage hissed, "you will let her pass."  
  
"Yes, Nabooru," the headsister promised readily, her voice trembling.  
  
Nabooru let her go and turned to Naziri. "I am grateful for your persistence, sister," she said dryly. "It makes me feel so needed."  
  
Naziri stared at her, openmouthed. Then she saw the glimmer of laughter in   
Nabooru's eyes.   
  
"You must come with me to my temple now," Nabooru continued. "There are...people...waiting to see you there."  
  
Naziri glanced uneasily back at Epona. "What about...?"  
  
Nabooru waved a hand. "Never mind. I'll make sure she gets back to the ranch safely." The Gerudo smiled and held out a hand to Naziri. "Come along, now."  
  
Hesitantly, with the entire crowd of Gerudo watching her every move, Naziri placed her hand into Nabooru's. There was a shocking, dizzying sensation, and suddenly Naziri was flying over the desert at lightning speed, and Nabooru was a shimmering sphere of light.  
  
"I'm impressed with you, sister." Nabooru's voice issued from the glowing sphere that was flying beside Naziri. "You've showed fierce loyalty thus far to your friends. I know how very difficult it was for you to face the Gerudo back there. Link and Zelda are fortunate."  
  
Naziri was so astounded that she forgot about the dizzying flight. Nabooru was impressed with her?  
  
"You and I are kindred spirits," the sage continued. "We're not meant for the stuffy society of traditional Gerudo. Do you think I blindly went with the flock when they chose to make my brother king? I knew Ganondorf was evil, and I followed my own heart. There is nothing wrong with following one's heart, Naziri."  
  
Naziri swallowed hard. "But...I deserted my sisters in Pinnasi," she whispered bitterly. "One less warrior to guard the fortress. And not only that- I was injured in battle!"  
  
Nabooru's voice was dismissive. "Yes, sister. One less warrior to guard the fortress. Honestly, Naziri, dear, do you really think them at Pinnasi can't get on without you? And as for your injury, I thought you'd already resolved that issue."  
  
"It's hard to forget."  
  
"Of course," Nabooru acknowledged. "But not every Gerudo is meant to guard gateposts in remote fortresses. Some of us are meant for more than that. It's all well and good to guard the fortress and live among our sisters, but there are those of us who simply are destined to leave and make their own ways in the world."   
  
There was another dizzying shock, and quite suddenly Naziri was standing inside a large hall with its walls, ceiling, and floor made of red stone. A few steps led to a slightly raised portion of the floor where doors rested in the walls. Two giant, carved snakes flanked the staircase. Naziri knew, without needing to be told, that it was the Spirit Temple.  
  
"There are those of us with independent streaks," Nabooru continued, no longer a sphere of light but a normal woman once again. "Like you and me. Be proud that you're meant for more than guarding gateposts." Nabooru laughed then. "Where would you be today, sister, if you hadn't followed your heart and left the Pinnasi fortress?"   
  
Naziri knew she was right. The wonders she'd seen, the people she'd met, the adventures she'd partaken in more than made up for the hatred of the Gerudo.   
  
When Naziri had mulled this over for a few moments, she turned to Nabooru again and was surprised to see the sage gazing up at the ceiling. "I brought her," Nabooru called. "I assume that's what you wanted. Are you coming, or should I tell her?"  
  
Naziri stared up at the ceiling, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Nabooru was silent for several long moments, as if listening to something, and suddenly Naziri thought she heard a voice singing.  
  
Then Nabooru nodded and stepped aside. "They want to speak to you themselves," she told Naziri.  
  
"Who-" But Naziri got no farther than that. The temple rocked quite suddenly with a soundless explosion that nearly knocked her off her feet, and then there were three lights floating in front of her...a green light, a blue light, and a red light.  
  
Naziri jumped back in utter shock. She didn't need anyone to tell her what these lights were. They were the three goddesses- Din, the goddess of power, Farore, the goddess of courage, and Nayru, the goddess of wisdom.  
  
A voice issued from the red light that was Din. _"IS THIS THE GIRL?"_  
  
Naziri had to clap her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Din's voice was everywhere, reverbating through the temple and booming inside of Naziri's skull, powerful and horrible. It was like hearing a mountain bellow.  
  
"She is," Nabooru replied, seeing that Naziri was in no condition to do so herself. Even the sage sounded shaken at the goddess's voice.  
  
"See how she did not cover her ears!" the green light that was Farore exclaimed delightedly. "She is strong, this one."  
  
Nayru, the blue light, spoke then. The voice of the goddess of wisdom was as terrible as Din's, but in a different way. Her voice was cold as ice, judging and absolutely merciless.  
  
"She is afraid," Nayru said silkily. "See how she cringes when I speak. She is not so very strong, Farore. Zelda does not cringe when I speak to her."  
  
"Zelda is yours," Farore argued. Her voice was the exact opposite of her sisters' in every way. It was a warm, loving voice, gentle and quiet. "Naziri does not yet belong to any of us. You cannot expect her to be unafraid. Zelda does not show fear because she is used to your voice."  
  
_"WE HAVE SEEN THAT NAZIRI IS BRAVE,"_ Din's horrible voice said impatiently. _"NO MORTAL CAN BE WITHOUT FEAR, UNLESS THEY ARE INSANE. SHE IS STRONG BECAUSE SHE STANDS WHEN I SPEAK."  
_  
The goddess was right. Naziri was crying, tears streaming down her face at Din's horrible voice, her hands still tightly clasped over her mouth. But she remained standing, facing the goddesses.  
  
"Give it to her, then," Nayru said with cold indifference. "Better her than Ganondorf."  
  
"I agree completely," Farore said emphatically.  
  
Nabooru said crossly, "Well, by the godd-" She stopped herself just in time. "I mean, shouldn't you give her a choice? She might not want it."  
  
Naziri tried to speak, but no words issued from her mouth.  
  
"Nabooru is right, sisters," Farore pointed out gently. "It's a dangerous relic to possess."  
  
"We know this," Nayru said impatiently. "Tell her about it, Din."  
  
The red light that was Din moved closer to Naziri. _"I'VE A GIFT FOR YOU, NAZIRI," _the goddess told her. _"WILL YOU ACCEPT IT?"_   
  
The young Gerudo swallowed hard several times and finally managed to speak. "What is it?" she whispered, her voice shaking.  
  
The goddess of power suddenly began spinning, faster and fast. A blur of red light above her head slowly formed a triangle. Din stopped spinning when the triangle was fully formed, and Naziri gaped at it.  
  
Her voice was full of amazement. "Is that...?"  
  
_"THE TRIFORCE OF POWER," _Din confirmed.  
  
"This is your gift?" Naziri hid quivering hands behind her back. "You want to give the Triforce of Power to me?"  
  
_"YES. BUT YOU SHOULD KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO, NAZIRI, BEFORE YOU ACCEPT IT."_  
  
Naziri trembled at the Din's voice, and she also trembled at her words. "You're saying there are risks?"  
  
"Many centuries we have spent trying to figure out why the Power is corruptive," Farore said gently. "Ganondorf was not the first to possess it, you see."  
  
"We knew Ganondorf was crazy even before he got his hands on Din's Triforce," Nabooru added. "Possessing the Triforce didn't change anything. But those before Ganondorf...most of them were driven mad by the Power."  
  
Naziri stared at Nabooru in horror. "That's _awful,_" she whispered.  
  
"They were weak," Nayru said coldly. "Unable to resist the drive behind Din's Triforce. The Power has a frightening energy which Wisdom and Courage do not, an energy that can twist the minds of those who possess it."  
  
"It cannot be helped," said Farore gently. "This energy is a part of Power's nature, and it is a part of Din's nature. Not all have been driven mad, though. Some have been able to resist it. We are hoping you are one of these. But..."  
  
The goddess hesitated, and Din took over.  
  
_"THIS PAST MOON OR SO HAS BEEN A DISASTER, AS YOU UNDOUBTABLY KNOW. NOT ONLY DID GANONDORF ESCAPE THE VOID, BUT WE BELIEVE HE HAS GAINED SOME OTHER SORT OF POWER THAT WE KNOW NOTHING OF. NABOORU WORKED A MIRACLE FOR US WHEN SHE STOLE THE TRIFORCE AWAY FROM HIM."_  
  
"Please," Nabooru murmured. "I'm blushing."  
  
_"WE HAVE HAD NO TIME WHATSOEVER TO CHOOSE A MORTAL SAFE ENOUGH AND STRONG ENOUGH TO POSSESS THE TRIFORCE OF POWER, YET WE MUST PUT IT SOMEWHERE. I BELIEVE THAT YOU MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND THE POWER, BUT...I AM NOT POSITIVE."_  
  
"She has Link and Zelda beside her," Nayru pointed out. "If she goes insane, they'll be able to stop her from using the Power to her own advantage."  
  
"What a consolation," Nabooru said dryly.  
  
Farore sighed. "Nothing else can be done. Yet it must be Naziri's choice."  
  
_"YES. ON THIS WE AGREE." _Din turned to the young Gerudo. _"WILL YOU ACCEPT MY TRIFORCE, NAZIRI?"_  
  
Naziri swallowed hard, instinctively looking to Nabooru for guidance, as all Gerudo would instinctively do. But the expression in the sage's eyes told Naziri that she'd have to decide this one on her own.  
  
It was obviously a risk. Naziri did not relish the idea of going insane. But on the other hand, if she possessed the Triforce of Power, perhaps she could help her friends defeat Ganondorf once and for all. With Courage, Wisdom, and Power united, perhaps they stood a chance.  
  
Who was her clan, anyway? The Gerudo? Who'd scorned and hated her for, as Nabooru said, following her heart? Or Link and Zelda, who'd stood by her this far in their journey without judgement?  
  
It all came down, in the end, to Gerudo philosophy. Protect the clan. Sometimes a true warrior had to make sacrifices to protect her brothers and sisters.  
  
"I'll do it," Naziri said firmly. "I'd be honored to accept your gift, goddess."  
  
_"PERHAPS YOU ARE STRONG, AFTER ALL."_ Din sounded pleased. _"VERY WELL, NAZIRI. I BESTOW MY TRIFORCE OF POWER UPON YOU. KEEP IT SAFE FOR ME."_  
  
Naziri closed her eyes as Din's form began to glow brighter and brighter. Even with her lids tightly shut, the harsh red light pierced through to her eyes. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see when it happened. But it made no difference. She felt it.  
  
She felt it when the Power slammed into her, filling her with its energy. She trembled violently at the shock of the unearthly energy, trying to keep a hold on her senses. The agony of it was almost unbearable, but she gritted her teeth and clamped down on the part of her mind that wanted to scream and never stop.  
  
Naziri suddenly thought she heard a thousand voices crying out in exaltation. Just as suddenly the pain began to lessen, the feeling of terrible power began to leave her, but still she kept her eyes closed. Her lids were tightly shut as the agonizing pain and power slowly left, leaving her no more than an empty shell.  
  
How long she stood there with her eyes glued shut, she did not know. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. But at last Naziri opened her eyes and found herself in the Spirit Temple with only Nabooru at her side. The goddesses had vanished.  
  
She took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to get a hold of reality. A comforting hand on her shoulder was Nabooru. "Sorry you had to go through that," the sage said quietly. "I can't even imagine what it's like."  
  
Naziri was panting by then, and trembling. "Did...did they all go through that?" she gasped.  
  
Nabooru didn't have to ask who she meant. "I believe Zelda went through a similar process when she was given the Wisdom," the sage told her thoughtfully. "Of course, it was probably different because Nayru's nature is so different from Din's...exactly like comparing ice to fire. Link got off easy." Nabooru grimaced. "I don't see how Courage could possibly cause him any pain. Farore's too gentle for that. He didn't even know he possessed it until Zelda told him."  
  
Naziri tried to take long, slow breaths to calm her pounding heart. "What about Ganondorf?"  
  
"Good question." Nabooru shrugged. "I don't know. I think taking it is probably   
different from receiving it. In any case, you won't have to go through it again."  
  
"Thank the goddesses," Naziri muttered.  
  
"Right," said Nabooru dryly. "Anyway, our dieties forgot to mention yet another   
risk of holding a piece of the Triforce."  
  
"What other risk?" Naziri cried in alarm.  
  
"Ganondorf," Nabooru said simply. "He can't know that you have the Power, or he'll try to get it from you, I've not doubt. He already knows that Link and Zelda have the other pieces. Best to keep this a secret."  
  
She stripped off her elbow-length pink gloves and held them out to Naziri. "Here."  
  
Naziri backed away a step. "Your gloves. I...I can't-"  
  
"Naziri." Nabooru's voice was wry. "Take a look at the back of your hands."  
  
Naziri obeyed with a start. Etched in gold on the back of both hands was the mark of the Triforce. She stared at the marks, wide-eyed. "I-I forgot about these."  
  
Nabooru took one of her hands and placed the gloves in it. "I want you to have these. Not just to hide the Triforce. But to remind you that you'll always be in my good favor." The sage grinned at her. "Show those to any Gerudo who tries to push you around."  
  
Naziri smiled faintly and put the gloves on with trembling hands. "Thank you, Nabooru," she said with real feeling.  
  
"No problem," Nabooru said quietly. "Just keep those on whenever you're in public, all right? Keep it a secret for as long as possible."  
  
"I will," Naziri promised readily. "And...um..."  
  
"Yes? Is there something else you need?"  
  
Naziri nodded emphatically. "Could you get me to Hyrule Castle? My friends..."  
  
Nabooru smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Naziri, my sister, you're already there."  
  
***  
  
When Link stepped out of the Temple of Time and saw the ruined Hyrule castle town, he thought for a moment that he'd gone four years back in time. He immediately realized that was stupid, of course. The wrecked Hyrule Castle looked almost exactly as it had four years ago when he'd stepped out of the temple for the first time as a man, but why shouldn't it? Ganondorf had destroyed it then, and Ganondorf had destroyed it now.  
  
The castle town appeared deserted, but every one of Link's senses was alert as he stalked through the ruin, silent as a cat. All around him shops and buildings were torn down, everything a charred shadow of what it had been. Navi was sticking very close to Link. He knew she felt the overwhelming presence of death and destruction. So did he.  
  
Bodies lay everywhere. The odor of burned flesh was sickening. Link forced himself to avert his eyes from those blackened corpses. Every one of them was a shopkeeper, a castle worker, a soldier. An innocent man, woman, or child.  
  
Something moved in his left field of vision, the only sign of life in the town. Link had his bow and an arrow aimed at the movement before he even thought about it.  
  
The stranger froze, staring at him with wide, dark eyes. It was Zelda, of course. She still wore her Sheikah garb, but the wrappings that normally covered her face and hair were gone.  
  
"Zelda!" Link half-whispered, half-bellowed at the sight of her. _"What in Din's name are you thinking?!"_  
  
"He's not here," Zelda muttered, nudging a blackened log at her feet. The wood crumbled to ash almost immediately. "I searched the entire castle for him. Not that there was much to search." Furious tears suddenly brimmed in her eyes. "He destroyed it all, Link! Every stone torn down!"  
  
Link carefully picked his way to the rubble and bodies to her side. "I know, I know. It's bad, all right? But let's get out of here before he comes and does to us what he did to the castle!"  
  
Zelda shook her head. "He's not going to come," she said harshly. "Don't you get it? He never intended anything here. He tore the castle down so he'd get to me. No, he tore the castle down so I'd get to him."  
  
"Exactly," Link said grimly. "He wants you to walk right into his trap, and that's just what you're doing. He tore the castle down because he knew it would make us angry, and anger makes us stupid."  
  
"Us?" Zelda laughed bitterly. "No, Link, not us. Just me. He's just playing with me right now. He killed innocent men and women! He killed Carlita! I know he's luring me into a trap, and I don't care. He's going to pay for what he did."  
  
"You're impossible!" he whispered exasperatedly. "What can you possibly do to him? You don't know his power, Zelda! You never fought him! I fought him!"  
  
Zelda glared at him hatefully, unable to find anything to say to that. The silence stretched on between them for ages.  
  
Then suddenly there was a startled yell behind them. Once again, Link had his bow and arrow aimed at the new stranger before he knew what was happening.  
  
Naziri looked around at the ruined castle town, completely unfazed by Link's reaction to her sudden appearance. "Put that thing down, Link," she ordered. "It's just me. Nabooru knows her stuff, doesn't she? She got me here before I even knew it."  
  
Link gaped at her and slowly lowered the bow. "Naziri-?"  
  
"In the flesh," she muttered, making her way carefully to them. "By the   
goddesses," she added in a whisper, staring around wide-eyed at the town. "Look at what he did to this place."  
  
"We noticed," Zelda said curtly.  
  
Naziri turned to her with compassion in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty," she said humbly. "I know how this must be killing you inside."  
  
Zelda looked surprised, but before she could say anything, Naziri continued.  
  
"The Gerudo fortress at Pinnasi used to be built of wood. One day, back when I was thirteen, the fortress caught fire and every log of it burned to the ground. All that was left was the clay wall. We had to rebuild it entirely, and that's why it's made of stone today."  
  
She gestured towards the ruined Hylian Palace. "I know what's it's like," she said softly, "to have your home destroyed and not be able to do anything about it. You're lucky, Queen Zelda. You have somebody to blame for it." Her eyes blazing, she added, "I think we'd better go to the ranch and figure out how we're going to pay back that creep."  
  
Link and Zelda bothed stared at her, astonished. There's something different about her, Link realized. But he couldn't quite place what it was.  
  
Zelda stepped toward Naziri. "I...thank you," she said softly. Then she looked around the castle again, her shoulders sagging. "All right, you two win..." She sighed.   
  
"We'll figure out how to stop him," Link promised her, wanting to see that defeated look out of her eyes.   
  
She nodded. "I know. I'm going back now." And with that she walked away from them, across the drawbridge and out of the castle.  
  
Link stared after her. "Navi." The fairy zoomed down near his head. "Follow her. Make sure she really does go back."  
  
"I will," the fairy squealed, and darted off.  
  
Naziri was nudging through a pile of crumbling logs that was covering something. When she saw that it was another charred, blackened corpse, she recoiled in horror. "How awful."  
  
Link didn't trust himself to answer her. "Damn him," he whispered, clenching his fists.   
  
Naziri laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Link," she told him sorrowfully.   
"I don't know what else to say..."  
  
Link placed his hand over hers. "Thanks, Naziri," he whispered. Then he noticed...he turned around to face her with her hand still clutched in his.  
  
"Naziri, are those Nabooru's gloves?" he demanded, staring at the elbow-length, pink and gold gloves covering her hands and forearms.  
  
Naziri smiled slightly. "Yes. She said I had to hide them..." She gently slipped her hand out of his grasp and pulled off the glove, then held up the back of her hand for him to see.  
  
Link stared, wide-eyed, at the mark of the Triforce. "Naziri!"  
  
She nodded, her smile growing. "They gave it to me. The Power. They said there   
were risks, but I accepted it anyway. Better me than Ganondorf."  
  
***  
  
Dawn found Naziri practicing drills with her scimitar in the middle of Malon's horse pen. No one had been able to go back to sleep when Link, Zelda, and Naziri returned from the ruined castle. Zelda had spent the rest of the night wandering aimlessly around the ranch until daybreak, then shut herself in Malon's house. Link was in the stable grooming Epona and, Naziri knew, worrying about Zelda. Malon, after waiting up all night for them, was now blearily going about her morning chores.  
  
Naziri hadn't eaten anything since the previous night. She felt the gnawing ache of hunger now, but refused to let herself get some breakfast before she'd finished her drills.   
  
She was wide awake. She could feel the presence of magic running through her blood. Unlike some people, she'd been born completely magickless, but she wasn't anymore. Naziri wondered just how long it would take her to get used to the Triforce of Power.  
  
Naziri executed a complicated cross-thrust with a fearsome Gerudo yell. Malon, feeding her cuccos nearby, jumped and nearly dropped her bucket.  
  
"Don't scare me like that." Malon pressed a hand to her heart.  
  
"Sorry," Naziri muttered, hacking at the air with a scimitar.  
  
Malon winked at her and went into the stable. Naziri could hear her impatient words carried through the open door.   
  
"How many times are you going to brush that poor horse? She's not going to have a coat by the time you're through with her!"  
  
There was a muttered reply, which Naziri couldn't make out.  
  
"I don't care if you're thinking, you don't need to strip Epona while you're at it. Get out and get some fresh air or I'll dump this feed on your head. Then your pretty hair will be all messed up."  
  
"I do not have pretty hair!"  
  
"Sure you do. It's all soft and golden-"  
  
"All right! All right! I'm leaving!"  
  
Naziri leaned against a scimitar and watched with a grin as Link walked out of the stable, muttering darkly and running a protective hand through his hair. He looked up and caught sight of her, scowled fiercely, then picked up his sword and joined her in the horse pen. Naziri resumed her drills as Link twirled his sword around in his hand a couple of times, then began his own exercises.  
  
"Did you talk to Zelda at all last night?" she asked him after a few silent moments.  
  
"No." Link chopped downward, darted back, lunged and jabbed the air. "I got the feeling she didn't want to talk to me or anyone else. And now she's holed up in Malon's house, so..."  
  
"Is she sleeping?" Naziri crossed her scimitars over her chest and hollered as she thrust them outward in opposite directions. It was a move meant to sever the head and middle of anyone standing in front of her.  
  
"I wish she would," Link replied, unfazed by the war cry. "But I'm willing to bet that she isn't. That's why I have Navi watching her- in case she tries anything tricky."  
  
"She wouldn't try to get at Ganondorf again, would she?"  
  
"I don't know." He lunged and hacked furiously at the air.  
  
Naziri paused in her exercises and leaned against a scimitar. "I don't get it. If Ganondorf wants to kill you and Zelda so badly, why didn't he attack at the castle? He could have at least picked off the queen while you weren't around."  
  
"Maybe." Link twirled his sword a couple of times, then tested the edge with a thumb. "Maybe not. Zelda's not helpless, you know. She's got her own power. I think Ganondorf knows that."  
  
Watching him, Naziri had a sudden, strange urge to touch his golden hair. "So why make her mad? Why destroy her castle and her people?"  
  
"Because the angrier your opponent is, the easier it is to kill them," Link pointed   
out. "That was Ganondorf's problem. When we battled, I was patient. Not like him. He had the advantage of strength and power and he knew it, too, so he pressed his attacks on me and assumed I'd get hurt. And I did, of course, but I figured out my own way to play his game. I let him attack me and I waited for the right moments to get at him, and when I did, it was all the more devestating. That just made him angrier."  
  
Link tossed his sword from hand to hand and pantomimed cleaving an enemy in half. "And in the end, that was what destroyed him."  
  
Naziri watched him, eyes unreadable. "Could that strategy work again?"  
  
"I don't think so," Link said grimly. "Ganondorf may be insane, but he's no idiot. I'm willing to bet he's learned from his mistakes."  
  
"Mm." Naziri resumed her excersises while Link watched.  
  
"So you met Nabooru," he remarked after a few minutes spent in silence.  
  
"Yeah." Naziri's scimitars slowed as she thought about the free-spirited desert sage. "She's...interesting."  
  
He laughed quietly. "Yeah. That's the word I'd used to describe her, too."  
  
"She said she was impressed with me."   
  
"How come?" Link's voice was nonchalant, but she sensed absolute concentration from him.  
  
"'Cause...um...'cause I've been loyal and all that," Naziri muttered. "To you and Zelda, that is. She said it wasn't my destiny to guard gateposts; it was my destiny to come here and fight with you."  
  
Link leaned against the iron fence and watched her quietly. "I didn't mean for you to get mixed up in all of this. Not that I didn't want you to come home with us," he added quickly. "I just didn't know how bad it was. I didn't know Ganondorf was back."  
  
His blue-eyed gaze was almost unnerving. "You couldn't have known," she said practically, trying to ignore it.   
  
"It isn't right, though," Link said restlessly, turning his eyes away from her. "There's a chance you can die here, Naziri. If I'd known that before we came back..."  
  
"I'd have come anyway," Naziri said firmly. "It was destiny, remember?"  
  
"Destiny," Link said bitterly. "Destiny is tricky and manipulative, and I hate it."  
  
Naziri twirled her scimitars restlessly. "I'm not sorry that I came," she said, frustrated. What she was really trying to say, what she couldn't put into words, was that her life had truly begun the day Link came to the Gerudo fortress at Pinnasi.  
  
Link was silent for several minutes, running a thumb lightly along the deadly sharp edge of his sword. Naziri knew he was thinking about Ganondorf.  
  
"If only we knew more," he said at last, chopping through the air. "Someone must have seen the power Ganondorf used on the castle. He doesn't have the Triforce anymore...yet he destroyed it all..."  
  
"Not everything," a voice behind Link and Naziri said. They both turned to find Zelda standing in the threshold of the horse pen's arched gate. Her hair was frazzled, her midnight-blue eyes ringed with dark circles. She held a roll of bandages.  
  
"There's no way he could have destroyed every single person in that castle," she continued, wrapping her hands with the bandages as she spoke. "Somebody had to have gotten out. And whoever got out, I have to find. Whoever got out has to know something, as you said, about the power Ganondorf has."  
  
"Maybe," Link said slowly. "But even if someone did get out, how could we possibly find them? Where would they be hiding?"  
  
Zelda smiled. "Kakariko Village," she said triumphantly. She had finished   
wrapping her hands and was now covering her mouth and nose with the cloth, muffling her speech slightly. "That's where Impa took me eleven years ago, when you took the Master Sword from its pedestal. That's where my kingdom's hiding. I'm sure of it."  
  
Her costume was almost completed. She held a hand over her eyes and whispered the word for her all too familiar spell. When she took her hand away, Sheik's red eyes gazed at them uncertainly over the mask.  
  
She touched her hair self-consciously. "How do I look?"  
  
"Like a very tired Sheik," Link said quietly.  
  
Zelda nodded. "Good. Let's go."  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	13. The Calm Before the Storm

_A note from the Hime no Argh-_  
  
You might all be happy to know that I've almost finished this story. I have a half of one chapter to write and a half of another (I tend to jump around in my stories). Then I have to go back and revise a little, and then I'm done. Rejoice!  
  
Gina, I thought you might want to know this- according to Super Smash Bros. Melee on Gamecube, Zelda does not actually take on another body when she transforms into Sheik, though through her magic she can instantaneously change her eye and skin color.  
  
As always, Zelda belongs to Miyamoto-sama, not me. Review please!  
  
  


***  


  
  


**The Triforce United**  


  
  


***  


  
  


The Calm Before the Storm  


  
  
Kakariko Village, the quiet little town at the foot of Death Mountain, was originally the site where a long-dead Sheikah clan lived. No one was sure what had happened to the Sheikah, nor how their village was destroyed. Impa, the last living pureblood Sheikah in Hyrule, had built a new town on the site of her ancestors around the time that Zelda was born. Kakariko was a sleepy little village, remote enough so that Ganondorf's evil might never have touched it, if not for the Shadow Temple that lay deep in the earth beneath the graveyard.  
  
Despite this, Kakariko had been the safest haven in Hyrule during Ganondorf's reign. Its people had sworn abject loyalty to Ganondorf while hiding Zelda for months after the Master Sword had been removed from the pedestal. Eventually Ganondorf had grown suspicious and Zelda was forced to flee and take sanctuary in the Temple of Time. But the village managed to stay on Ganondorf's good side, and it was one of the few places in Hyrule that had not been rebuilt after Ganondorf's fall.  
  
Zelda knew from past experience that Kakariko was the first place her kingdom would run to if they ever needed to hide.   
  
It was late afternoon when Link, Naziri, and Zelda in Sheik's disguise crept into the sleepy, quiet village. "Is this it?" Naziri asked in a whisper, peering around curiously.  
  
Zelda touched the wrappings covering her mouth and nose uncertainly. "This is it." She glanced at Link with the red eyes that were a part of her costume. "Think it's safe?"  
  
Link thought Sheik's eyes were very disturbing. They made Zelda look...well, not Zelda. "It's awfully quiet," he said in response, turning his gaze away from hers.  
  
"The calm before a storm," Naziri quipped, keeping a nervous hand on her scimitars.  
  
"Or the calm after," Link added grimly.  
  
Zelda glanced uncertainly at the both of them and seemed about to say something when suddenly the door to the headman's house opened and the headman himself walked out.  
  
"Your Majesty?" he said in a confused voice when he caught sight of them.  
  
Zelda looked very relieved. "Hello, Gunther."  
  
The headman named Gunther stared at her, astounded, then opened the door to his house again and called to his wife. "Gwen! Git out here! Her Majesty's come!"  
  
Within minutes the entire town was assembled before Zelda, Link, and Naziri. Several times during the seven years that Link slept in the Temple of Time, Zelda had traveled back and forth between the temple and the village in Sheikah guise. As a result, everyone in Kakariko knew the true identity behind the disguise, but it was a secret well-kept.  
  
Zelda was elated. As the town assembled, several guards, workers, and inhabitants of the Hylian Palace and Hyrule Castle Town came forward to confer with her. Her surviving kingdom was small, but they were more than none.  
  
Gwen, the headman's wife, greeted Link and Naziri while Zelda spoke to her subjects. She was a plump, warm, hospitable lady who had a tendacy to blush whenever Link was near her. At a happier time he would've played up to it shamelessly, flirting with her until the laughing woman shooed him away.  
  
"Welcome to Kakariko," she said warmly to Link and Naziri. "You've no idea how happy we are t'see you, Master Link."  
  
"Just Link," he said firmly, grasping her hand between both of his. "Gwen, this is my friend Naziri, of Pinnasi. She came north with me after we found Zelda."  
  
Gwen and Naziri quickly exchanged salutations while Gunther got his people to quiet down.  
  
"Shut yer mouths, all of ye! Her Majesty's t'speak with us!"  
  
"Thank you, Gunther," Zelda said wryly. She had discarded her makeshift mask and changed her eyes back to their normal dark blue. She glanced quickly over the crowd of her subjects.  
  
"My friends," she began, then hesitated. Link watched the queen with a steady gaze. He knew her well enough to know that the right words would always come, eventually.  
  
"I suppose I must apologize," Zelda said softly at last. "To everyone, but especially to those who live in the castle. If I'd known what I was leaving you to face, I'd have never left."  
  
"You'd have died if you never left," Link commented in a whisper.  
  
Zelda glared at him momentarily, then turned back to her people. "My decision to leave was guided by the goddesses. In fact, it was ordered by the goddesses."  
  
A murmer went through the crowd. Anyone with half a brain new that what the goddesses were involved in was serious.  
  
"But I'm not here to make excuses," Zelda said firmly, quieting her people. "I'm here to rid Hyrule once and for all of Ganondorf. And I promise you, that no matter how long it takes, Hyrule _will_ be rid of him."  
  
The people of Kakariko and the castle inhabitants alike roared a fierce, enthusiastic cheer.  
  
***  
  
As the day drew to a close, Naziri explored Kakariko Village. She was amazed at the change Zelda's rally had produced in her people. The villagers went around their end-of-the-day work humming war songs and exchanging fierce grins, as though the battle for Hyrule was already won. The refugees from the castle were bustling about setting up tents, cooking meals, sharpening weapons and speaking with their queen.   
  
For an entire hour a group of boys and even one or two girls had occupied Naziri with showing them scimitar exercises. Link finally saved her by nonchalantly practicing archery right next to them, which attracted the warriors-to-be immediately.   
  
Grateful to him, Naziri had instantly taken off before any of the children could decide they liked the scimitars better. She was now wandering around in the graveyard, under which the Shadow Temple lay.  
  
Ever since Naziri had seen the Spirit Temple, she wanted terribly to see them all. _After Ganondorf is taken care of,_ Naziri thought firmly, _after that, then I'll go and see the rest of the temples. _  
  
She had no idea where the others were, besides the Shadow Temple. She supposed that she'd have to ask Link.  
  
For a moment, Naziri thought wistfully of her golden-haired friend. Then she shook her head, surprised at herself. What was this that she was feeling?  
  
Confused, Naziri turned her eyes toward the enormous, foreboding Death Mountain and saw something that made all other thoughts fly out of her mind.  
  
The peak of Death Mountain was _glowing._ Faintly but steadily, it burned with a reddish-orange light.   
  
***  
  
Naziri was panting when she found Link in a corner of the village, cleaning his weapons.   
  
"What is that?" she demanded by way of greeting, pointing toward the glowing peak of Death Mountain.  
  
Link stared at her for a moment, then turned his eyes to the mountain top. "That? That's just the crater."  
  
Naziri stared blankly.  
  
"The volcano crater," Link offered.  
  
Naziri stared blankly.   
  
Link sighed. "It's lava. Um...liquid fire. It builds up deep inside the mountain and every now and then it..." He trailed off.  
  
Naziri stared blankly.  
  
"Uh...we can go see it tomorrow. Then you'll understand. Okay?" Link watched her with an odd gaze.  
  
"Okay," Naziri said reluctantly. For some reason that she could not explain, she was deeply disappointed.  
  
"Are you all right?" Link was still watching her. His blue eyes seemed very bright.  
  
Without thinking, Naziri reached up and brushed a few strands of golden hair away from his eyes.   
  
"I'm fine," she muttered, and darted away.  
  
***  
  
Night fell over Kakariko. Link, Zelda, and Naziri were offered Gunther and Gwen's house as their sleeping arrangements, but declined. Instead they set up a couple of tents in the middle of the town and agreed to each take a watch during the night. Zelda's guards were already posted all over the perimeter of the town, but Link, Zelda, and Naziri all thought there could never be too many sentries.  
  
Naziri had the first watch. As the stars lit one by one in the sky and the moon slowly rose, she settled back against a tree trunk, preparing herself for a battle with the overwhelming desire to sleep.   
  
It was difficult just to keep her eyes open. At first she occupied herself by cleaning her scimitars. Then she took a walk around the town. After she'd done this, she was already out of ideas to keep herself awake, and was fighting a losing battle.  
  
There was one thing, at least, that helped keep her eyes open. Again and again, Naziri found her eyes drawn to the red glow on Death Mountain. The crater, or whatever Link called it.  
  
But even that could not keep her from drowning in fatigue. Naziri was just drifting away when suddenly, something called out to her.  
  
She jerked awake immediately, her eyes wide in the darkness. Something had just called her, she was sure of it. But not in any spoken language. It had been more like a song...like a bit of slow, deep music that reminded her very much of heat, and red, and ancient things.  
  
She heard it again, and turned her eyes to Death Mountain.  
  
_Who are you?_ she asked in her mind, as if the voice-song could hear her.   
  
It gave no answer to her question. Instead it simply called again in that ancient, irresistable voice, and she knew that must go to it.  
  
Suddenly guarding the village and her friends didn't seem like much to Naziri. There were sentries all over the town; what did they need her around for?   
  
Her mind was made up. Naziri stood and walked away from the tree where she'd been keeping watch, leaving her scimitars lying on the ground.  
  
She was headed for the Death Mountain trail.  
  
***  
  
When Link awoke, it was hours past the time when Naziri was supposed to wake him to guard. He frowned as he climbed out of his tent. Had the Gerudo fallen asleep? If so, he'd never expected it. After all, she spent her entire life guarding the Gerudo fortress before coming north to Hyrule.  
  
He stood up and looked around, blue eyes scanning the darkness intently. Naziri was nowhere in sight. That worried him.  
  
_She probably took a walk to help her stay awake._  
  
That thought made sense, so Link sat down next to a large tree, preparing to wait for his friend to return.  
  
Then he saw her scimitars.  
  
They were lying on the ground, discarded without a care. Instantly his eyes narrowed. This was not Naziri. Her scimitars never left her side. Even when she was sleeping, they were always within arm's reach.  
  
Link jumped to his feet and scanned the darkness again, searching with a more intensive purpose. Again, Naziri was nowhere in sight.  
  
Link glanced to his left and saw a sentry patrolling near the foot of the Death Mountain trail. He hurried over to the man.  
  
"Did you see Naziri on her guard?" he demanded instantly.  
  
The man turned to him, surprised, then nodded. "Yeah, I seen her. She was millin' around a bit o'er there." He pointed to the tree. "That is, she was afore she went up the trail."  
  
Link's eyes narrowed sharply. "What do you mean, she went up the trail?"  
  
The guard shrugged and pointed to Death Mountain. "She went up there. Tol' me she was goin' to take a look. At what, I dunno."  
  
He shook his head, amazed. "Why...?"  
  
The guard shrugged again. "Beats me."  
  
Link closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, gazing at the Death Mountain trail with a purpose. "Thanks. If Zelda wakes up and asks, tell her I'll be back by dawn."  
  
***  
  
It was a very long walk up the Death Mountain trail, and Naziri was completely unprepared for it.  
  
_Next time I decide to do something like this, I oughta wear some better shoes, _she grumbled to herself after her dainty slippers finally fell apart due to the rough terrain of the mountain.  
  
It didn't occur to her to turn and go back to the village. Doggedly she headed on toward an unknown goal on the Death Mountain peak. Even when her bare feet were practically ripped to bloody shreds by the rocky path, she only dimly registered the pain and soon forgot it.   
  
After a few sharp bends, Naziri's path took her along the edge of a high cliff, past an enormous cavern cut into the mountain. She hesitated for only a moment, glancing at the cavern, which seemed to be some sort of city. It was inhabited by strange, big, round fellows who looked like rocks themselves. They watched her curiously as she passed, but she spoke to no one.  
  
About an hour's walk from the mountain city, Naziri found herself in front of an enormous cliff face. She stopped and craned her neck up and up at it, trying to find some way around it. Then she saw the red-orange glow at the top of the cliff, partially obscuring the stars in the night sky. It was then that she realized this cliff led to the top of Death Mountain. She stripped off Nabooru's gloves and tucked them into a pocket, then curled her hands and feet into cracks in the cliff wall and began the long ascent.   
  
Naziri was no climber. Several times she nearly slipped, scraping her knees and elbows raw. The jagged edges in the cliff wall tore bloody gashes in her unprotected hands and feet. Still, Naziri barely noticed. All of her, by this point, was focused completely on getting to the top. Would the ancient, inescapable singer be waiting for her at the mountain's peak? She didn't know. All she knew was that the great voice had called to her, and it was impossible to resist.  
  
At last Naziri dragged herself over the lip of cliff and lay helplessly for a few moments, gasping. When she'd caught her breath, she slowly raised her head and stood up painfully on shredded feet. It was then that Naziri got her first glimpse of the Death Mountain crater.  
  
It was as though a giant scoop of mountain had been cut right out of the peak. It looked exactly like a rock bowl dug deep into Death Mountain and filled with a fiery, reddish-orange substance that bubbled and frothed and radiated an enormous amount of heat.  
  
_So that's what lava is,_ Naziri perceived as she stared down into the giant bowl.  
  
She was aware of the reddish glow all around her, and of great waves of heat washing over her, yet Naziri was not uncomfortable. She was warm, but not unbearably so in the slightest. The heat reminded her of the warm glow of a campfire or hearth.  
  
Naziri approached the edge of the bowl as closely as she dared, gazing down curiously at the liquid fire beneath. It was then that she heard it. The song.  
  
She gasped, glancing about her as if expecting to see the singer right beside her. There was nothing to be seen, yet the immense, deep voice rang all around her, singing its slow, mournful song.  
  
"Who are you?" Naziri whispered.  
  
The singer hesitated, as if thinking of a way to answer her question. The lava below her shifted the way a sleeping cat shifts as it is about to wake.  
  
But before the voice could sound again, Naziri heard another voice behind her.  
  
"Who in the name of all fiery hell are you?"  
  
Naziri whirled around quickly to see the source of the voice hovering in midair behind her. She was a darkly beautiful, striking female clad all in black, her wavy, fire-red hair cascading halfway down her back. She was tall and slender, generously curved and well-preportioned, with smooth, milky shoulders and long, shapely legs. Her eyes, gazing at Naziri with an expression of contempt, were as black as ebony.  
  
Taken by surprise, Naziri moved back a step. "I'm Naziri. Who are _you?_"  
  
The woman's lips pulled back to display rows of sharp, spindly teeth, and suddenly she was not all that beautiful. "I'm the last sight you're ever going to see."  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	14. Naziri's Fire

_A note from the Hime no Argh-_  
  
Hullo, old and new readers alike. How were your holidays? Lots of cool presents? ^_~ Happy 2002, btw. Here's the next chapter, picking up on that last cliffhanger. Hope you enjoy, and please review!!  
  
  


***  


  
  


**The Triforce of Power**  


  
  


***  


  


Naziri's Fire  


  
Link made it up the mountain path in record time. He now knew for certain that he was on Naziri's trail. Around the halfway point, he'd found what remained of Naziri's pretty slippers, lying in shreds on the ground.  
  
He hurried after that.  
  
Now he was at the enormous cliff wall which led to the very top of the mountain and the crater. Too impatient to climb it, he used the longshot to grab on to a well-placed wooden sign at the peak and propel himself upward in a flash.  
  
When his feet set on level ground again, Link caught his balance and beheld the spectacle before him.  
  
Naziri was in far below him in the scoop of the Death Mountain crater, balancing on a rather narrow rock that jutted out from the lava. She was confronting a beautiful, unholy woman who floated in midair a few feet above her head. Neither had taken notice of him.  
  
"Naziri!" he yelled in pure astonishment.  
  
Both women quickly turned their eyes to him. "Link!" Naziri hollered. "Get out of here! She's some kind of fire element!"  
  
Link took a closer look at the black-eyed, cruelly beautiful female. Ropes of dark fire lanced around her, drawn directly from the pool of lava in the crater. The closer the strands of fire drew to her, the darker they became.  
  
"She's controlling the lava somehow!" Naziri yelled. "She can set it on you! She's absorbing the life energy of the fire and taking away its will! It has no choice but to obey her!"  
  
The woman stared at her with an outraged expression. "How did you know that?!"  
  
Naziri blinked. "I...don't know."  
  
Link came out of his spell-bound state. Lightening fast, he grabbed his bow, set and arrow to it, drew the string and let the arrow fly directly at the fire-controlling woman.  
  
She whirled and threw up a wall of fire. The arrow struck it and crumbled to ash.   
  
"You'll pay for that mistake!" the woman bellowed. "How dare you interfere with Maeve Darkfire! Don't you mortals know who I_ am?!_"  
  
"Maeve Darkfire?" Naziri repeated mockingly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Should we mortals _know_ that name? I've never heard it."  
  
Link smiled grimly. Naziri had learned what he knew- an angry enemy was a beaten enemy.  
  
"Are you in the ancient scrolls of Hyrule?" Link chimed in. "I don't think I saw a single mention of Maeve Darkfire. What are you, some petty demoness?"  
  
"I've read of cows who are better-known than you!" Naziri taunted.  
  
"I've read of chickens!" Link added.  
  
"Mortals!" Maeve shrieked. "All of Hyrule will tremble at my name when I'm through with it!"  
  
Link drew the gleaming Master Sword. The dark blade was humming, ready for battle. "Fight me," he challenged Maeve. "Fight me, and we'll see how good you are with your candle flames."  
  
Maeve's pretty mouth twisted into a sneer. "I've better things to do than waste my time fighting you." Then suddenly she smiled. "However, I'll send an old friend of yours to fight in my place." She raised her arms.  
  
Link knew it even before she summoned him.  
  
_"GANONDORF!"_  
  
Behind Link came the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. He whirled, Master Sword raised, and found himself face to face with his mortal enemy.  
  
Ganondorf.  
  
"So. We meet again, Hero of Time." Ganondorf spat in the dirt. In his red eyes was the gleam of a madman; in his hands, an enormous, black sword.  
  
Link felt his hands shaking. "You...twisted...bastard," he hissed through clenched teeth. "How dare you show your face to ME!"  
  
With a furious roar, he charged forward to meet his mortal enemy. Their mighty blades slammed together with a din that shook the heavens.  
  
***  
  
Naziri knew that Link could not help her now. In the face of his greatest foe, he'd probably forgotten that she still existed. Now Ganondorf and Link were locked in an apocalyptic battle on the rim of the death mountain crater, their swords clanging against each other like the tolling of massive bells.  
  
She faced off against Maeve, trying to ignore the battle sounds. The demoness was nonchalantly sucking the life from the fire below her. For some reason, this made Naziri angry.  
  
It made her very angry.  
  
"Let the fire alone or I swear I'll..."  
  
"You'll what?" Maeve laughed. "Will you kill me with your bare hands?"  
  
"I'll send you right back to hell if you mess with me!" Naziri roared.  
  
Maeve floated up a few feet, her hands raised above her head. Between her palms a whirling ball of flame took shape and grew. "I don't think so, little girl. I'm the one with the power here. You're helpess. You don't even have a weapon!"  
  
"Who needs a weapon to kill _you?_" She was being foolhardy, Naziri knew, but she didn't much care.  
  
"Brave words!" Maeve scoffed. The flame lanced around her arm as she pointed at Naziri. "Say goodbye, sweetheart."  
  
The flame reared and flew at her, roaring like some horrible beast. Instinctively Naziri shut her eyes and threw up her hands.  
  
"WHAT?" Maeve shrieked.  
  
Naziri opened her eyes. The flame had stopped in midair halfway between her and the demoness.  
  
"What...?" Maeve sputtered. "How...?"  
  
Naziri was wondering the same thing. But there was no time to worry about that now. She focused every bit of concentration she had on that ball of flame to keep it away from her, even as Maeve pressed down with her power.  
  
"You'll never win, girl!" Maeve snarled. "My will is stronger than yours!"  
  
Naziri clenched her teeth. It was a struggle to force each word out. "I...don't...think...so!"   
  
She thrust all of her will outward. The flame _shrieked_ as it flew back to Maeve.  
  
The demoness darted out of its way and was hovering behind Naziri in a flash. She whirled to face her, but it was too late. Maeve's eyes flared bright orange, and suddenly Naziri's feet were no longer touching the ground.  
  
She was high above the crater, suspended in midair.  
  
"See you in hell," Maeve snarled.  
  
Naziri screamed. "LINK!"  
  
Link drove Ganondorf away with a sword chop and whirled to see Naziri drop into the molten lava of the crater.  
  
"NAZIRI!" he roared helplessly, despairingly.  
  
She disappeared with hardly a ripple.  
  
Link's body was rigid, frozen, as he stared at the frothing lava.   
  
_Naziri..._  
  
The Gerudo was dead. Gone beneath the flames as though she'd never been.   
  
For the first time in his life, Link thanked the goddesses for Ganondorf. He had something to vent his rage on.  
  
With a animal roar, Link whirled on Ganondorf and slashed viciously with the Master Sword. Ganondorf barely brought up his sword in time. Again and again, without a second's hesitation, Link's mighty blade slammed down on Ganondorf's. Each jarring blow was weakening the madman. The gleam in his eyes was more fanatic than ever.  
  
Link hoped he was afraid. He hoped the demoness was watching. Because as soon as Link was finished slicing Ganondorf to pieces, it was her turn.  
  
His friend was dead. Naziri, the crazy little Gerudo with her free, wild spirit, was no more. He'd never see her again. Never see her green eyes when they laughed, or when they glittered so fiercely whenever she touched her scimitars. Never see her childlike curiosity whenever they entered a new terrain, never feel her wistful gaze on him...  
  
Wistful? She had looked at him _wistfully?_  
  
What had she felt, that he'd now never know?  
  
Link was not thinking about his movements now. His strikes, blocks, jabs were all automatic as his mind raced, thinking a bit more carefully about Naziri.  
  
He thought of how pretty she was when she laughed. How often had that free-spirited desert child laughed! She had a sense of humor one could envy. She took all of life in stride, serious only at appropriate times. She laughed sometimes, she cried sometimes, she was embarassed only every now and then (usually when Link had flirted with her) and tender at rare, precious moments, like back in the village when her warm hand had touched his hair to brush a few strands away...  
  
_Goddesses,_ Link thought, his senses numbed.  
  
He had loved her.  
  
And she very well may have loved him back.  
  
With a shock that made his head spin, Link was suddenly back in cold reality. Naziri was dead. Whatever might have been, would never be.  
  
Ganondorf was panting hard, now only defending, not attacking. Sweat ran down his face into the shallow cuts that Link had made unknowingly. He watched Link now with something in his gleaming eyes that he'd never seen there before- was it fear?  
  
Link hoped it was.  
  
"Ganondorf, you fool!" Maeve snapped, startling Link. He'd forgotten that she still watched the battle. "Get back. He's mine."  
  
Without warning, he was hit from behind with a torrent of raw energy. Link yelled in pain and whirled around blindly, slicing the air with his sword, then fell to his knees.   
  
"Cheating bitch," he whispered through clenched teeth. "Only cowards strike from behind."  
  
Maeve shrugged. "You think I care about playing fair? I care about getting results. The end justifies the means, my dear man."  
  
She was collected flame above her head. Ganondorf, on her orders, was staying back. If only he was within arm's reach...Link could've at least chopped off his legs before Maeve killed him...  
  
Let me die now, he thought, oddly calm, watching Maeve gather a flaming sphere to launch at him. Let me disappear with Naziri and be with her...  
  
Maeve turned her ebony gaze on him.  
  
And the earth shrieked suddenly, rocking with a great, soundless explosion. Link gasped as a wave of power slammed through him, knocking the wind from his lungs. Maeve stumbled in midair, choking and gasping.  
  
"What the hell was that?" the demoness demanded, once she'd gotten her breath back.  
  
The earth heaved slowly, as if it were taking a long, shuddering breath...then a whirling torrent of flame exploded from the Death Mountain crater, swirling higher and higher in the air, ropes of fire lancing and twisting around a lone, defiant figure...  
  
"Naziri?" Link whispered, hardly daring to believe it.  
  
Maeve stared with a wide, fanatic gleam in her eyes, her mouth opening and closing several times. "You're supposed to be _dead!_" she shrieked at last.  
  
***  
  
Naziri listened to the fire as it swirled around her, listened to its demand for the death of Maeve. She grinned fiercely as ropes of flame lanced all over her body, twisting around her wrists and ankles and weaving through her braided hair.  
  
"I'm sorry," she taunted Maeve as she stretched her palms outward, reaching for the demoness. "I guess I just don't kill that easily."  
  
The fire roared as it flew hungrily for Maeve, ready to devour her. Maeve darted out of its path and dashed around behind Naziri, coming to rest beside Ganondorf on the rim of the crater.  
  
"I guess I'll just have to find another way to kill you, desert girl," Maeve snarled as a reddish glow formed around her and Ganondorf. "You haven't seen the last of us!"   
  
Link and Naziri's foes disappeared without a trace.  
  
Link watched her, wide-eyed, as Naziri slowly drifted downward. The fire set her down gently on the rim of the Death Mountain crater before untwisting itself and vanishing under the pool of lava.  
  
"Hi," Naziri said to Link, smiling uncertainly.   
  
He didn't reply. He was staring at her with an intense, unnerving gaze, as if he was trying to decide if she was real or not.  
  
"Don't look at me like that," Naziri begged. "I'm okay. See?"  
  
He blinked and took a step toward her, placing his hands hesitantly on her shoulders. "I thought you were dead," he said at last.  
  
Naziri laughed shakily. "I thought I was dead."  
  
Link stared at her for a heartbeat's moment longer, his blue eyes very bright. Then suddenly he seized her, holding her tightly in his arms, and buried his face in her shoulder. Naziri froze for a moment, stunned by the intimate contact, then very hesitantly, slid her arms around his neck.  
  
They held each other tightly, trembling, on the rim of the Death Mountain crater.  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	15. Aftermath and Conversations

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-_  
  
I'm going to try to do a double-chapter posting, mainly because I like the ones that come after these two a lot. That's when it starts to get towards the end and the story (in my opinion) gets better than ever. So bear with me, please! ^_^ And away we go...  
  


***  


  
  


**The Triforce United**  


  
  


***  


  


Aftermath and Conversations  


  
When Link and Naziri staggered into Kakariko Village at last, the sun was well on its course through the sky. A hassled Zelda was standing in the middle of a knot of townspeople, wearing a rumpled cotton nightshift and rapidly assembling a search party.  
  
Many townspeople exclaimed loudly at the sight of Link and Naziri. Zelda whirled and stared at them; one look at Naziri's pale, haggard face was enough.  
  
"Get the healer," Zelda snapped to no one in particular. Several villagers rushed to obey her.  
  
Zelda hurried forward to help support Naziri's free side. Link had an arm around her waist. The journey down the mountain had been long and painful for the young Gerudo, whose hands and feet were cut up horribly and bloodily. Link had bound her hands and feet as best he could with strips of canvas, but Naziri could barely stand.   
  
"What happened?" the queen demanded as she help Naziri sling her arm over her shoulders.   
  
"I didn't wear good shoes," Naziri replied with a weary grin.  
  
Link rolled his eyes. "Her hands and feet got cut up climbing the Death Mountain trail. They're worse than cut up, actually- they're practically shredded."  
  
"They're not that bad," Naziri protested as she carefully tried to rest her weight on her own two feet. Her eyes went wide and she slumped in her friends' grasps, hissing through her teeth.  
  
Link and Zelda let her slide to the ground. "Not bad, huh?" Zelda said dryly.  
  
Just then, the healer, a woman named Juniper, elbowed her way through the watching crowd. She was a tall, pretty woman with skin the color of dark earth and black hair. Her eyes were a very dark brown; her teeth strong and pearly white.  
  
Her eyes flickered over Naziri and her companions. "You are the patient?" Witrhout waiting for a reply, the healer knelt at her side. "Show me your wounds."  
  
Link helped Naziri unwrap the makeshift bandages covering her hands and feet. There were many winces and mutters from the watching villagers when the terrible gashes were revealed, but Juniper gave no reaction. She took Naziri's left hand and turned it palm up, probing the wounds gently with two fingers. Even the light touch was enough to make the Gerudo hiss.  
  
"These are bad wounds," Juniper said calmly. "We must treat them immediately."   
  
She stood and faced the villagers with a sudden air of command and began picking townspeople at random to do her bidding. "You, get me a basin filled with warm water. You, do the same. You, get me healing herbs. You, get me clean linen. You, get me two rolls of bandages." The healer glared at them all. "What are you waiting for?"  
  
The villagers she'd selected left at a run as the crowd began to disperse. Juniper turned and surveyed Naziri again.  
  
"From this moment onward, she stays off her feet until the wounds are healed," Juniper declared. She pointed at Link. "You may carry her to my house."  
  
Link and Naziri exchanged glances. "I can walk on my own," the Gerudo protested.  
  
"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to question a healer?" Juniper snapped.   
  
Naziri blinked. "Well, yes, but-"  
  
"Then be quiet. And what are you waiting for?" The healer glared at Link, then marched off toward her house. Link gently swung Naziri into his arms and started after Juniper, Zelda trailing thoughtfully behind them.   
  
"I hate being carried," Naziri confided to Link in a whisper. "It makes me feel so helpless."  
  
"You just defeated Maeve up on that mountain," Link told her affectionately. "And now you're feeling helpess?"  
  
"It wasn't me," Naziri protested. "It was the fire. Besides, I'm sure I didn't even faze her."  
  
Juniper's house was warm and comfortably furnished, with a fire roaring in the hearth. She directed Link to set Naziri down in a soft armchair. "Where are those idiots with my supplies?" she then demanded and stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind her.  
  
When she was gone, Zelda turned to Link and Naziri. "Tell me everything that happened, right now," she ordered.  
  
Link gazed at her thoughtfully. "You make a good queen, Zelda, you know that?"  
  
She gave him a very meaningful look. "Link..."  
  
"All right, all right." Link glanced at Naziri, but she was staring at the fire in the hearth with an odd expression. "Ah...well, when I woke up for my shift, Naziri was gone. One of the sentries told me she went up the Death Mountain trail. So I went after her, and I found her in the crater-"  
  
_"In_ the crater?"  
  
"Yes," he said impatiently. "She was in the crater and she was facing off with this...demoness of some kind. The demoness said her name was Maeve Darkfire. Then she summoned Ganondorf."  
  
Zelda's eyes widened. _"Him?!"_  
  
Link nodded gravely.  
  
"That bastard," Zelda hissed, and Link saw her hands clench into fists. "What I would've done if I'd been there-"  
  
"Ganondorf was summoned to attack me," Link said loudly, cutting her off. "He and I fought, and Maeve and Naziri...ah...insulted each other..."  
  
"She threw fire," Naziri remarked in a faraway sort of voice.  
  
Link glanced uncertainly at her. The Gerudo was still gazing into the fire with a transfixed expression. "Yes...Maeve threw fire, and Naziri blocked it. Then Maeve picked her up and...and dumped her in the lava."  
  
"She what?!"  
  
"But Naziri came out perfectly fine, with fire all around her. She threw some at Maeve, but she dodged it and disappeared."  
  
"Ganondorf?" Zelda asked in a strained sort of voice.  
  
"Vanished when Maeve did."  
  
The door slammed open suddenly, making them all jump. Juniper marched in followed by several townspeople bearing two steaming basins of water, stacks of linen, and packets of herbs.  
  
"Make yourself useful," the healer snapped at Link. "Get that table over there and set it in front of your friend."  
  
Link did as he was told. Juniper then directed her victims to set the basins of water down, one on the table and one on the floor by Naziri's feet. The other supplies she ordered set down before the hearth.  
  
"Now get out, all of you," she commanded, and the villagers hurriedly obeyed, obviously glad to go. Juniper turned her eyes to Link. "You may remain, as long as you stay out of my way."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Link muttered.   
  
Juniper raised a brow at him, then went to Naziri's side. She knelt and lifted the Gerudo's feet into the basin of water on the floor. Naziri's eyes widened and a string of Gerudo curses escaped her lips.  
  
"Oh, be quiet," Juniper said irritably. "Would you rather I scrubbed the dirt out of your wounds?"  
  
Naziri stopped cursing and gulped. "No, ma'am."  
  
"That's what I thought." Juniper stood and placed Naziri's hands in the basin on the table. "Let them soak, and I'll return shortly to bandage them." The healer then left her house abruptly as she came.  
  
Link, Zelda, and Naziri stared after her for a few moments. "I'm going to get changed," Zelda said at last, looking down at herself with a sigh. Link smiled, realizing that she was still in her nightdress.  
  
When Zelda was gone, Link turned curiously to Naziri. She was still staring at the hearth as if she were in a trance. Link could contain himself no longer.  
  
"What're you doing?"  
  
Naziri blinked, then looked at him as she'd just come back from a faraway place. "I was just telling the fire about Maeve and Ganondorf," she said slowly. "It's just as angry about 'em as we are-"  
  
"I'm sorry. You're what?"  
  
"Talking to the fire," Naziri said patiently, as if Link were a bit slow-witted.   
  
He gave her a look. "Oh, of course."  
  
She made a face at him. "I talked to the fire up on the mountain, too," she informed him. "When I fell into the lava. He's not happy about Maeve, you know. That's why he lent me his power- to drive her away."  
  
Link pulled up a chair to sit beside her, and shook his head to clear it. "Slow down, please. Who is he?"  
  
"The volcano." Naziri smiled. "He's called the Ancient Flame. He was born thousands of years ago, before people existed in Hyrule. When I fell into the lava, he surrounded me and told me he never saw a mortal with so much power inside. I told him it was Din's, and he thought I was a divine being come to save him from Maeve. He gave me his fire and told me to drive Maeve away."  
  
"And you did," said Link thoughtfully.  
  
Naziri nodded. "She'll be back, though. All fires in this village are afraid for the Ancient Flame, because once Maeve consumes his energy, theirs will be gone as well."  
  
"Why is that?"   
  
"Because they were born from him," she replied knowingly. "All fire in Hyrule is born from him." She grinned at Link's disbelieving stare. "Did you know that the very first fire ever made by the people of Hyrule came from a torch dipped in the Ancient Flame's lava? A Sheikah went up to the mountain and carried it down, and they kept the fire burning for ten years before they learned to create it themselves, with steel and flint. That was over a century ago, when Kakariko still belonged to the Sheikahs."  
  
Link gazed at her, unsure of what to say. "That's...amazing. How do you know all that?"  
  
Naziri pointed to the hearth. "Juniper's hearth flame told me. It knows everything the Ancient Flame knows." She met Link's eyes, her own uncharacteristically grave. "It wants me to stop Maeve once and for all. They say I should go back up the mountain and speak to the Flame again."  
  
"Juniper will never let you," Link pointed out. "She'll think that you'll injure yourself again." He privately agreed with the healer, but there was no need to tell Naziri that.  
  
"I don't care," Naziri said stubbornly. "I'm going back up that mountain the first chance I get. Someone needs to fight Maeve. She has no right-" Abruptly she fell silent as Link laid a hand on her arm.  
  
"When you fell into the lava, I thought I lost you," he told her gravely, searching her eyes with his own. "Ever since that moment I've been thinking that it's my fault you got caught up in this mess. If you hadn't come here, you'd never have received Din's Triforce; you'd never have been injured-"  
  
"The wounds will heal," Naziri said crossly, averting her eyes from his. "It's not like they're very serious. And stop acting like you dragged me here against my will. I chose to come."  
  
"Maybe you should go home," Link said softly.  
  
"It's a little too late for that," she snapped. "I'm a part of this now, whether you like it or not. Din gave me the Triforce for a reason, and I'm not just going to run away."  
  
Then Naziri made the mistake of meeting his eyes. Link smiled painfully at her, but said nothing.  
  
"Well...I didn't mean to snap or anything," Naziri added in a slightly calmer voice. "I just...you don't need to be protective of me, y'know."  
  
Link said nothing, only continued to hold her gaze with his own. A few still moments passed. Then, tentatively, he reached out and touched her cheek. His fingers were warm.  
  
_This gets more interesting all the time,_ Naziri thought wildly.  
  
A patter of footsteps announced an arrival. When Zelda stalked back into Juniper's house, wearing her Sheikah costume and combing her hair with her fingers, she found Link bandaging Naziri's hands. Both of them looked rather pale.  
  
Zelda's eyes flickered from one to the other. "How are your wounds?" she demanded of Naziri.  
  
The Gerudo smiled wryly. "Right as rain. I should be able to handle a fork and spoon in about a week."  
  
"I hope it's sooner than that," Zelda said grimly. "We have work to do."  
  
***  
  
Night fell early in Kakariko. As soon as the sun set behind Death Mountain, Zelda went for a walk through the village. Her subjects were bustling around their evening chores, happy to stop and chat with the queen for a bit. Zelda knew it was her duty to inform her people of Ganondorf's appearance on Death Mountain, because there was always a chance that he might visit the place that had sworn him loyalty back in the dark days of Hyrule. All of the villagers were quick to assure her that they would keep her and her friends well hidden.  
  
Zelda eventually came across Naziri, sitting in front of an enormous bonfire. Her masses of unbraided red hair lay pooled on the ground, and she was attempting to comb it. Zelda saw the problem immediately- with her injured and bandaged hands, Naziri could barely hold the comb, let alone use it on her hair.  
  
"Need some help, Naziri?" Zelda offered solemnly, biting back a grin.  
  
"No," Naziri snapped. Then she looked up at Zelda and reddened. "Your Majesty. Ah...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."  
  
Zelda sat down next to her and plucked the comb from Naziri's hands. Ignoring Naziri's muttered protest, she began to comb through the Gerudo's sleek, ankle-length hair. "That's all right. You're mad because you can't do anything yourself, I'm guessing."  
  
"Yes. It's very irritating when you can't even stand on your own two feet."  
  
"Your hair is beautiful," Zelda informed her. "I forget how much of it there is, though, when it's not braided. How did you get it out of the braid, anyway?"  
  
"With a lot of struggle, Your Majesty," Naziri said in a wry tone.  
  
"Enough of that," Zelda said firmly. "Call me Zelda. We've known each other long enough to be on a first-name basis, don't you think?"  
  
"I suppose," said Naziri doubtfully.  
  
Zelda was quiet as she worked through a tangle in Naziri's hair. "Hard to feel like a queen in this outfit anyway," she added, glancing down at her Sheikah costume.  
  
Naziri twisted around to get a look at her. "You'd look more like a queen if you had your normal colorings," she said frankly.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Naziri gestured. "Your eyes."  
  
"Oh..." Zelda sighed exasperatedly. "I always forget unless there's a mirror around."  
  
"They make you look so different," Naziri said, peering closely.   
  
"That's what Rauru said when he taught me the spell," Zelda told her wryly. "He said no one would ever guess who I was with red eyes. Now will you sit straight, please? It's hard to comb your hair when you keep twisting around."  
  
Obediently Naziri turned her back. "Why don't you change your eyes back to blue?"  
  
"Because Link would lecture me if I did," Zelda growled. She mimicked a male voice. "'What in Din's name are you thinking, if Ganondorf spots you with blue eyes he'll know you immediately, never mind that most Hylians are blond-haired and blue-eyed, including me...'"   
  
"But you're not dressed as a Hylian," Naziri pointed out with a grin. "You're dressed as a Sheikah."  
  
Zelda made a face. "Most Sheikah have pale hair and dark eyes, too. Or so I've been told." She combed through a particularly frustrating tangle of knots at the ends of Naziri's hair. "I can't believe you have to deal with this much hair."  
  
"It takes me over two hours to wash and dry and braid it all," Naziri confessed.  
  
Zelda shook her head admiringly. "I don't know how you do it. My hair isn't nearly as long, and I still get fed up with it when I have to be queen. Being Sheik is easier. I just wrap up my hair some, make it look like a boy's style, and I'm finished."  
  
Naziri chuckled. The two women fell into a companionable silence. Then Zelda spoke again.  
  
"Link tells me you can talk to fire," she said gravely.  
  
Naziri started in surprise. "Oh...yes, that's right. I'm not sure how, exactly..."  
  
"No?" Zelda sounded surprised. "But surely you knew that fire is Din's element."  
  
Naziri hesitated. "I thought it might have something to do with the Triforce of Power. But then I wasn't sure, because neither you nor Link relate to any elements. Do you?"  
  
The hand holding the comb slowed. "Well...Nayru's element is ice, you know."  
  
"I'm not surprised," Naziri said with an involuntary shudder, recalling the goddess's cold voice. "Is ice your element, then? I've never seen you use it."  
  
"That's because I can't," Zelda said matter-of-factly, combing through Naziri's hair briskly again. "I don't have any power relating to ice, not that I know of, anyway." Then she hesiated. "Well...there is something."  
  
"What?" Naziri asked curiously.  
  
Zelda was quiet for a moment. "I can walk through ice," she said at last.  
  
Naziri twisted around to stare at her disbelievingly. "You're joking."  
  
Zelda smiled slightly and raised her right hand. "Swear by the goddesses. If there was a ten foot tall block of solid ice in front of us, I could walk right through it. Not only that, but I could lead you through it as long as I maintained contact with you."  
  
"That's _amazing!"_ Naziri exclaimed.  
  
Zelda smiled. "It's not a very useful talent. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've used it."  
  
"But still..." Naziri shook her head. "How did you discover this?"  
  
"That's an interesting story, actually," Zelda said thoughtfully. "You see, while Link was sleeping all those years in the Temple of Time, Ganondorf went around destroying Hyrule. When he found Zora's Domain...no, you don't know what Zora are, do you?"  
  
Naziri shook her head.  
  
"They're a...a mating of human and fish," Zelda explained. "They're structured like humans, but they have fins and they can breathe underwater, and they're excellent swimmers. They live in an enormous cavern under a waterfall. It's filled with plenty of water for them to live in, and it's very beautiful. Anyway, when Ganondorf found their domain, he used his power to freeze all of the water, trapping the Zora in solid ice. I could do nothing. Rauru -he was the keeper of the Temple of Time, where I lived for those seven years- he forbade me to try and stop Ganondorf from destroying my kingdom. He told me there was nothing I could do. He was right."  
  
Naziri stared at her. "I can't believe you stayed shut away in temple walls for seven years."  
  
Zelda shook her head. "You've no idea how bad it was. The Temple of Time is very small, compared to the rest of the temples in Hyrule. It's sacred ground, so Ganondorf was never able to touch it, but it made me crazy, being there day and night while he was destroying Hyrule. And Link was no help. He didn't move from the day he took the Master Sword 'til he woke up, seven years later to that day. When Link woke, Rauru revealed his own true identity as the Sage of Light, and went to live in the Sacred Realm. That's when I decided I was done with cowering in the temple."  
  
"So what happened?" Naziri inquired curiously.  
  
"Well, Link went to the temples and rescued the sages, and I helped him as best as I could. I composed songs for his ocarina, and enchanted them all so that they would have magical properties. There was one for each temple, and they were meant to transport him to each temple in the blink of an eye." She smiled dreamily. "I like the Minuet of Forest the best. That was the first song I ever taught Link to play."  
  
"What else did you do?" Naziri asked.  
  
"Well, like I said, I helped Link in any way I could. I was the one who told him how to use the Master Sword to go back in time. While Link was rescuing Darunia, the Sage of Fire, from the Fire Temple, I went to Zora's Domain at Nayru's bidding. She told me that I had to rescue the princess of the Zora, Ruto, from under the ice. That was when I discovered I could walk through it."  
  
"That's amazing," Naziri whispered, her eyes alight with wonder.  
  
Zelda smiled. "I went through the ice and found Ruto, then led her out. She ran off to the Water Temple to try and save it from the demon that Ganondorf had put there. Nayru told me that Ruto is the Sage of Water, so I intercepted Link and sent him to the Water Temple to destroy the demon and save Ruto. Sage she may be, but demon-slayer she is not."  
  
Naziri laughed. "And here I thought sages could do anything."  
  
"Oh, we can do lots of great stuff," Zelda said brightly. "We can make flashy entrances and exits, we can transform ourselves into spheres of light, and we can travel back and forth from the Sacred Realm."  
  
"Can you do all that?" Naziri asked curiously.  
  
"Oh, sure. I'm the head of the sages. I have all sorts of useless talents." Zelda sighed and shook her head. "It's sad, really. I have all sorts of flashy power, and the only talent I ever really make use out of is my talent with a dagger. Then again, I never really thought magic was practical. Elemental magic, though- that's a different story."  
  
"Mm," said Naziri, thinking of the fire on Death Mountain.  
  
"So how are things going with you and Link?" Zelda inquired amiably, jerking through a knot in Naziri's hair.  
  
"Fine, I guess," the Gerudo replied, wincing. Then suddenly she realized what Zelda had just said. "Oh...ah..."  
  
Finished with combing her hair, Zelda laid the comb on the grass next to them and separated Naziri's hair into three parts. Two parts she draped over Naziri's shoulders. "Fingercomb those, if you can manage," she command while she performed the service on the third, middle part. "So talk to me, please. I think I'm right in assuming that Link likes you."  
  
"He does not," Naziri denied instantly.  
  
"Oh, please. It's obvious to me, if not to you." Zelda took hold of all three parts of Naziri's hair in her fingers and deftly began to weave them together. "I do have eyes. Besides, you two flirt all the time."  
  
"We never!" Naziri exclaimed indignantly.  
  
Zelda chuckled. "You do. And the funniest thing is, neither of you seem to realize you're flirting. I wasn't sure whether it was serious or not until I saw how Link acted when you two came down from Death Mountain."  
  
"How did he act?" Naziri asked uncertainly.  
  
"Like he'd almost lost the woman he loves," was the blunt reply.  
  
Naziri blushed and fidgeted slightly, quiet for several long moments. "I...I thought that Link was in love with you," she admitted at last.  
  
"Me?" Zelda's voice was full of mirth. "Naziri, dear, you've got it all wrong. He was never in love with me."  
  
"Oh. But you two seem so...I dunno..."  
  
"Perfect for each other?" Zelda suggested impishly. Naziri nodded. "Oh, we are perfect for each other. We're so perfect that it would never work between us."  
  
When Naziri twisted around to give her a look, Zelda smiled. "There was a time, of course, when I was Link's princess and he was my knight in shining armor. But that was before Sheik revealed his true identity." Zelda winked and resumed braiding Naziri's hair. "Our relationship just never progressed beyond being close friends, and neither of us expected it to."  
  
Zelda tugged on Naziri's braid to make it tighter and continued. "Link's been surrounded by strong people, especially strong women, all his life. Personally, I think it's good for him. He's not the least bit arrogant, thank the goddesses, because he knows that not everyone needs rescuing. And he's not afraid to have a relationship with a woman who's also a warrior- someone like you, for example."  
  
"But that's not the way it's supposed to be," Naziri growled.  
  
"Oh, of course not," Zelda agreed. "The knight's supposed to fall in love with the princess. But the problem with that is that this is real life, not a fairy tale. Princesses turn into queens, and knights love them, but they don't fall in love with them. They fall in love with the little war goddesses from exotic places."  
  
She finished Naziri's braid and sat next to the Gerudo, peering into her eyes with a smile. "Sometimes the little war goddesses even love them back."  
  
***  
  
It was a few hours before dawn when Naziri woke. She had gone to sleep before the bonfire, which had now burned down to a few embers. Zelda lay curled up beside her, deep in slumber.  
  
Moving as quietly as possible, Naziri unrolled the bandages covering her hands and feet. Grimacing at the dried blood, she set the bandages aside and used a damp cloth to clean the wounds with many whispered curses. Then she carefully rebandaged them with fresh linen and slowly got to her feet.   
  
The pain as she rested her weight on her feet was almost unbearable, but Naziri gritted her teeth and took a few experimental steps across the cool grass. It cost her a great deal of pain to walk, but she could do it.  
  
The pain started to leave her mind as she limped across the grass toward the Death Mountain trail. Everything started to leave her mind. That inescable voice that Naziri had named the Ancient Flame was calling to her once more, and she had to go to it.  
  
The gate to the Death Mountain trail was closed. Naziri was fumbling awkwardly with the gate with her heavily bandaged fingers when a hand closed on her elbow.   
  
Naziri jumped and bit back a yell. "Where are you going?" a soft voice said pleasantly in her ear.  
  
Naziri jerked her arm out Link's hold and whirled to face him, emerald eyes snapping furiously in the darkness. "I'm going up that mountain trail, and you're not stopping me," she snapped.   
  
Link stared back at her with a bland expression. "That might work better if you had something to defend yourself with." He gestured to her waist.  
  
Naziri glanced down and saw what Link meant- she was unarmed. She glared at him. "Does this mean you're going to cut my throat rather than let me go up the trail?" Quite suddenly the pain in her feet caught up with her, and she stumbled.  
  
Link caught her and wrapped an arm around her waist to support her. "Nothing that drastic. I know I don't stand a chance of stopping you from doing what you want to do. I'm not letting you walk up there, though."  
  
Naziri craned her neck to look up into his eyes. "You can't carry me all the way up the mountain," she accused.   
  
"Of course not. But Epona can." He grinned at her and let her slide to the ground. "Sit there for a minute, my pearl." He produced his ocarina out of some pocket and played a tune that reminded Naziri of clear skies and open fields.  
  
It was mere seconds before Link's mare galloped into view, her hooves muffled by the thick grass. She trotted right up to Link and butted his chest while Naziri stared in open-mouthed surprise.  
  
"Hey, girl," Link murmered, stroking Epona's white mane. "I need you to carry Naziri here up the mountain. She's about as thin and light as a willow weed, so it shouldn't be much trouble."  
  
Naziri closed her mouth and glared at Link as he grinned at her and swung her into the saddle. She fidgeted uneasily on Epona's back and rubbed her neck. "Heya, Epona. Remember me?" The mare tossed her head as if in reply.  
  
"How did she get here so fast?" Naziri asked Link.  
  
"The song's magic," Link replied as he threw open the gate and took hold of Epona's reins. "It transports her from wherever she is to wherever I am."  
  
"And that doesn't scare her?" Naziri asked in amazement as Link led Epona through the gate and onto the trail. Epona was a calm horse, but even she couldn't be that calm.  
  
"Not a bit," Link replied cheerfully. "The song was Malon's creation. She explained to me how it works. She hears the song and it summons her to run to wherever the song is being played, and the way the magic works, she just thinks she's running really fast."  
  
Epona flicked an ear back and forth and whickered.  
  
"How can you be sure that's how it works?" Naziri asked skeptically.  
  
"Well, I'm not positive if it works that way, but I'd know it if Epona were scared."   
  
"Oh."  
  
They walked at an easy pace along the winding Death Mountain trail as the sky grew lighter and lighter. The fire's summon was less demanding now that he knew Naziri was coming, but it was still first and foremost in her mind. She itched to be in that crater again with the deadly heat surrounding her and fire spiraling around her.  
  
But she was distracted from her thoughts when her company was stopped by a couple of the big, rock-like creatures she had passed on her way up the mountain the day before. Their bodies were like oval-shaped boulders with arms and legs sticking out. Their skin was the color of sandy earth, hard and rough, their eyes black and gleaming.  
  
"What are those?" Naziri whispered to Link.  
  
"Gorons," he replied, frowning. "I wonder what they want."  
  
They stood in the middle of the path to block them. One nodded a greeting. "Big brother wants to see you," he rumbled to Link in a deep, rough voice.  
  
Link frowned. "What for?"  
  
"Ganondorf come."  
  
Link dropped Epona's reins. "He _what?!"_  
  
"To the city," the Goron replied with a nod. "He search for you and dark-eyed queen."  
  
"Zelda," Link muttered.  
  
"Dark-eyed queen," the Goron agreed. "You come speak to big brother now."  
  
"Link..." Naziri said, looking toward the mountain.   
  
He looked at her. "I have to go talk to their leader. This is really serious."  
  
Naziri was about to reply when a loud, booming crash interrupted her, making them all jump. They all looked toward the path from which Link and Naziri had come. What looked like a small boulder was bouncing and rolling toward them at amazing speed. The boulder stopped abruptly a few feet away from them and unrolled itself to reveal a small Goron.  
  
"Big brother," the talkative Goron told Link and Naziri, nodding toward the smaller one.  
  
"I know," Link said. "Naziri, this Goron is their leader. His name is Link."  
  
Naziri blinked. "Hm?"  
  
"Darunia, the Sage of Fire, is his father," Link explained. "He's a good friend of mine, and he named his son after me."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Link the Goron nodded courteously to them. "I am king of the Goron," he told Naziri with a gallant bow. "You have fire in you."  
  
"Oh!" She blinked, and looked at the Goron king closely. "How do you know that?"  
  
"I am brother to fire, and to all that are kin to fire," he replied. "Brother-" This was directed to Link. "-the Dark King come to our city, look for you and queen."  
  
"Yes, he told me," Link replied grimly, gesturing toward one of the Gorons.  
  
"I say, queen and Hero of Time are not here, but Dark King insist on searching city. What can I do? I let him search, because I know he not find you."  
  
"Is the city all right?" Link demanded. "He didn't destroy anything, did he?"  
  
"Dark King is angry when you are not found. He kick over clay pots, destroy expensive work." The Goron sighed.  
  
"He's losing his vigor," Link said dryly. "Did he say or do anything else?"  
  
"No. He leave. He say he search other domains, find your hiding place."  
  
"I don't doubt him," said Link darkly.  
  
"Link," Naziri said, troubled. Her friend and the Goron king both looked at her. "Ah...the Hylian Link. If Ganondorf is looking for you, is Kakariko safe?"   
  
Link stared at her for a heartbeat. Then a roar louder than thunder exploded from the tiny village at the foot of the mountain.  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	16. Ganondorf's Return

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself..._  
  
Well apparently this chapter got cut off for some reason during the uploading process, so here it is reloaded. I will have Chapter 19 up as soon as possible. Sorry to be slow, but I've got midterms this week! *cry*  
  
  


* * *  
  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
  
  
* * *  


  


Ganondorf's Return  


  
  
The sun was an hour or two from rising when Zelda jerked awake, every nerve humming. She tried to look around, but a blinding flash kept appearing again and again in front of her eyes. It took her several moments to realize that the light was Navi, darting back and forth in front of her.  
  
"What are you doing?!" she bellowed, swiping blindly at Link's fairy.  
  
Navi dodged her hand easily. "Ganondorf's coming!" she shrieked. "And his intentions are murderous; a Great Fairy told me!"  
  
Zelda cursed and jumped to her feet. "Wake up the headman," she ordered as she grabbed a stack of linen and wrapped it around her head, covering her nose and mouth. "Tell him to gather everyone who has even the tiniest spark of magic by the well. And where the hell is Link?!"  
  
"He went up Death Mountain with Naziri!" Navi reported breathlessly as Zelda finished covering her face.   
  
"Dammit," Zelda growled. "Tell the headman, and be quick about it. Wait! Before you go- what color are my eyes?"  
  
"Red," Navi squeaked.  
  
"Good. Get going."  
  
Navi streaked away, and Zelda darted to the entrance of the village, peering anxiously down the steps carved into the dirt. There was no sign of Ganondorf._ Thank the goddesses,_ Zelda thought as she trotted toward the well. _We have some time._  
  
Gunther and his wife waited anxiously with a small cluster of people at the well. Zelda stared at them all in turn. They were mostly young people, jumpy adolescents and a few bleary-eyed, worrisome preteens who could not have been older than twelve.  
  
"Juniper!" Zelda exclaimed in surprise, catching sight of the tall black woman in the crowd.   
  
She nodded shortly. "Yes, I have a bit of magic. I spell every healing herb I use."  
  
"Why do you need the ones with magic?" asked Gwen, the headman's wife. Her eyes were glittering with fear. "Is it true...? Is...is he...?"  
  
"Yes," Zelda whispered, then she raised her voice so everyone could hear. "Yes, Ganondorf is coming here." Ignoring the gasps and murmers of fear, she went on. "I believe he knows that Link and I are hiding. He is coming here with intents to attack. I'm going to protect the village, but I need help to do it. I need magic...your magic." She nodded to the striken crowd.  
  
Zelda hated to ask it of this group, especially when so many of them were children. But the spell she planned to perform for the village's protection, the Wall of Power, needed a great deal of magic to maintain it, and she knew that her reserve would run out in little over an hour.  
  
But she also knew what draining these people's magic would cost them. A transfer of magic would consume all of their energy. They'd faint and sleep for days. They'd be defenseless during that time. If Ganondorf broke through the Wall, forcing the villagers to flee...  
  
Zelda met the gaze of a little girl who must've been no more than ten years old. The girl was clutching a stuffed animal and staring at her with dark, solemn eyes. There was a complete and utter silence as the girl took a hesitant step forward, then another, and another, her bare feet padding softly on the grass. The little girl reached out a hand; Zelda responded in kind. Their fingers touched, and Zelda felt a bolt of power literally shoved into her hand. Then the little girl dropped like a stone, crumpling softly to the grass in a dead faint.  
  
There was a moment of shocked stillness, then Juniper rushed forward and knelt beside the girl, checking her vitals. "She'll be fine after she's slept for a few days," the healer reported. She glanced up at Zelda. "Let me keep my power, and I'll take care of those who give you theirs. The power of these young people is stronger than mine, anyway."  
  
Zelda nodded, rubbing fingers that still tingled from the little girl's magic. None of the watching crowd looked eager to lend her their power, but fortunately, Zelda needed none at the moment.  
  
"He approaches!" a voice bellowed from the watchtower. "Ganondorf approaches!"  
  
The crowd screamed; Zelda whirled, and found herself staring eye to eye with her greatest foe, only a hundred yards separating them. He was closing the distance with each deliberate step, a naked sword in his right hand.   
  
"Stay back," Zelda warned the villagers as she stalked toward Ganondorf, power rippling around her.   
  
She promptly forgot her disguise. "Ganondorf!" she snarled as the distance between them narrowed. "I'll warn you just once- get out of this place before I kill you."  
  
Ganondorf hesitated, staring at her with narrowed eyes. Abruptly Zelda realized what he was seeing- an angry Sheikah youth with power swirling around his body like a cloak. Good, she thought with grim satisfaction. Let that confuse him for a bit.  
  
Zelda threw up her hands as her lips moved with the words of a prayer Rauru had taught her to use only in the most desperate of situations. "Goddesses, I intone thee, grant me which I beg of thee. Din, your power, to protect me. Nayru, your calm, to sustain me. Farore, your mercy upon me and mine."  
  
She gritted her teeth as she gathered every bit of power in her body and thrust it outward through her hands. Blue light lanced through the air and spread like a net to cover the area around Zelda, the townspeople, and Kakariko Village, encasing them in a solid dome of power.   
  
Ganondorf snarled and darted forward. His sword lashed out to strike against the shining barrier with a booming crash.  
  
* * *  
  
Epona's hooves pounded on the dirt as she raced back to Kakariko Village, both Link and Naziri mounted on her back. They thundered through the gate and found themselves facing a wall of solid blue light, rippling with power. Epona halted so abruptly that she was forced to rear; Naziri grabbed the reins to keep herself from sliding off while Link grabbed her waist. Epona wheeled and then fell back to all fours. She snorted nervously and paced back and forth in front of the wall.  
  
Link swung off her back and stared up at the barrier. It was a dome made of sparkling blue light, covering Kakariko Village as far as he could see. He didn't dare touch it; the power that radiated from it made his skin prickle. He knew the spell immediately; it was called the Wall of Power, and it was meant to keep out anyone and anything.  
  
"It must be Zelda's," he muttered aloud for Naziri and Epona's benefit. "No one else has the power to maintain this spell. And I'll bet my sword that Ganondorf is on the other side of it."  
  
A white light flashed inside the barrier, and Link squinted to see it better. "Navi? Is that you?"   
  
"Of course it's me!" the fairy squeaked irritably.  
  
He blinked, suddenly remembering that he hadn't seen Navi for several days. "Where have you been?"  
  
Navi's wings buzzed angrily as she flitted back and forth inside the barrier wall. "Where have_ I _been?!" she demanded, outraged. "I was visiting the Great Fairy up on the mountain, but I thought I didn't have to worry about my friends because _you_ were supposed to protect them!"  
  
"Then Ganondorf is here?" Link demanded, his eyes flashing.  
  
"Of course he's here, you idiot!"  
  
"All right, all right." Link stalked back and forth in front of the barrier like a restless tiger. "Dammit...I can break through it, but it'll take me a while."  
  
"What're you going to do, then?" Naziri demanded sharply behind him.  
  
"Ask for divine intervention," Link said grimly. "You'd better get back. You too, Navi."  
  
Epona hurriedly trotted a few yards back while Navi retreated from inside the barrier.   
"This should be fun to watch," the fairy grumbled.  
  
Ignoring her, Link drew the Master Sword and held it aloft. "Farore!" he cried to the heavens.  
  
There was a still, silent moment...then the Master Sword flared with blinding silver light, so bright that it was impossible to look at it for more than a few seconds. "Thank you," Link whispered, and chopped downward toward the barrier.  
  
The sword ripped through the Wall like a white-hot knife slicing through butter, opening a tear that spread wide enough to allow Link, Naziri, and Epona passage. Link darted back to grab his mare's reins and urge her quickly through the rip. The barrier became whole again once all three of them were through.   
  
Once inside, Link turned to Navi. "Where's Zelda?"  
  
"She's sitting under the tree just before the entrance. Ganondorf is doing everything he can to distract her, but she's managed to maintain the spell for three hours."  
  
"Three hours?" Link whispered, wide-eyed. "Goddesses!"  
  
"Go help her!" Navi shrieked furiously.  
  
"I will!" Then Link turned to Naziri. "Do you think you can use fire against Ganondorf?"  
  
Naziri bit her lip. "I...I can try. I think I'm going to need a fire to start with."  
  
"I'll go get some villagers to start a fire," Navi said, and darted off.  
  
"Do what you can," Link whispered to Naziri. "I'm going to go see how Zelda is holding up."  
  
Naziri nodded, her chin set, and dashed off after Navi. Link whirled, his sword still clutched in his hand, and stalked deliberately toward the entrance of the village. Kakariko townspeople, clustered together in their nightwear, shrank back as he passed them.  
  
His mortal enemy watched him come without a word. An angry snarl twisted his lips; his eyes held a madman's gleam. He stood on the other side of Zelda's barrier with a marked and dented sword in hand.  
  
Link stopped when he was beside the tree near the entrance to the village. Only a yard or two separated him and his foe. "Ganondorf," he snarled.  
  
"Link," Ganondorf hissed. He swung his sword upward and down at the barrier; it struck with a roar like thunder. Sparks flew where the sword hit, but the barrier held firm.  
  
"Nice try," Link scoffed. Ganondorf looked furious.  
  
"Link?" The feeble, raspy whisper barely reached his ears. Startled, looking glanced to his left and saw Zelda under the tree in her Sheikah garb. Her eyes were closed, her shoulders slumped, her chin resting on her chest.  
  
Ingoring Ganondorf's muttered curses, Link knelt beside Zelda and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open; they were Sheik's red. Link had never seen her look so weary.   
  
Link looked up and saw a cluster of young people standing a few yards away from the tree, watching them with intense gazes. His gaze traveled to an open stretch of grass beside them, where eight bodies lay side by side.  
  
"Farore's mercy," Link whispered, feeling the blood drain from his face.  
  
A hand closed weakly on his wrist; Link looked back down into Zelda's eyes. "They're not dead," she whispered. "They're just sleeping. They've been helping me..." Her eyes widened suddenly and she struggled to sit up. "Power," she rasped. "I need more power."  
  
A teenage girl rushed forward to kneel on Zelda's other side, grasping her hand between both of hers. Zelda met the girl's gaze and jerked suddenly, a shudder passing through her. The girl's eyes fluttered closed and she slumped to the grass in a dead faint.  
  
Zelda closed her eyes as well, and Link watched the barrier become brighter. He knew what she was doing- the teenage girl had given Zelda her magic, and she was using it to strengthen the Wall of Power. Ganondorf watched the process without a word, a calculating expression on his face. Link wondered if he knew Zelda was Zelda- or did he still think she was a Sheikah youth?  
  
"I can't keep this up," Zelda whispered in a voice so weak that Link had to lean close to hear her. "Each new bit of power sustains me for less time than the last. I've been at this damn spell for hours."  
  
She coughed and added, "It's going to break."  
  
* * *  
  
Naziri stared at the roaring bonfire that the people of Kakariko had built up for her. The swirling flames rose higher than her head. She wiped sweating palms on her leggings before turning to the knot of frazzled and jumpy villagers who had made the fire.  
  
"You'd better all stay back," she said in a raspy voice unlike her own.  
  
The villagers took off without another word, disappearing behind closed doors. Naziri grimly turned back to the bonfire. I suppose there's only one way to do this, she thought, remembering that the entity called the Ancient Flame had spoken to her only after she'd been thrown into the liquid fire on Death Mountain.  
  
Naziri closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth, then walked straight into the bonfire. Flames roared all around her, licking at her skin. Naziri almost cried out in surprise when she realized those tongues of fire were not hurting her in the slightest. She scolded herself mentally -the liquid fire hadn't hurt, after all- and opened her mind and heart.  
  
"Hello?" she cried to the immense being in the core of Death Mountain, and thought she felt a shift of attention. "Can you hear me?"  
  
There was a silence, then the great entity spoke._ I can hear you, little one_.  
  
Naziri winced as his voice reverbated through her mind. It was immense, and it was everywhere, a slow, deep voice that reminded her of red and ancient things. It wasn't nearly as painful as Din's voice, but it was difficult to listen to.  
  
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need your help," Naziri pleaded.  
  
The entity shifted irritably. _You disobeyed me, little fire-child. I called you, but you did not come._  
  
"Yes, I know," Naziri said humbly. "Forgive me, but I couldn't. That's why I need your help now-"  
  
_I have never met a mortal with as much fire inside as you,_ the great flame boomed, interrupting her. _I have seen many fire-children in my time, and you are by far the most powerful.  
_  
"It...it's Din's power, great one," Naziri told him uncertainly.  
  
_Yes, little one, you told me so,_ the Ancient Flame snapped.   
  
Naziri winced. "Please...can you tone down your voice? It hurts me to speak to you."  
  
_Children should listen, not speak,_ the great entity thundered. _You come to me wishing to beg for help against your foe, the one whose freedom gave him chains. He is not your true enemy. But if you would drive him away, be quiet and listen._  
  
"Yes, great flame," Naziri whispered, shaken.  
  
_I have lived for thousands of years, and the chained one intrigues me like few mortals will. He once had the fire in him, before it was stolen away and given to you. Imagine, fire-child, my curiosity when I found the power of the goddesses in the one who was destroying Hyrule._  
  
_I attempted to speak to him, to summon him as I have summoned you. Do you know what I discovered, little flame?_  
  
Naziri shook her head. "No, great flame."  
  
_I discovered his only fear. Fire-child, the one whom you consider your enemy is afraid of fire._  
  
Naziri's eyes widened. "You can't be serious."  
  
_You question me, little flame?!_ the great entity roared.  
  
"No!" Naziri cried. "Of course not...no...no, it's just that, I didn't think he was afraid of anything."  
  
_Well...you're only a mortal,_ the Ancient Flame said grudgingly, his voice a bit gentler. _I forget because of the fire in you. I must remember not to expect much from you._  
  
"Thanks," Naziri muttered.  
  
_Use my fire, little one. And learn my fire, little one- you will need it against your true enemy.  
_  
"Who is my true enemy?" Naziri whispered.  
  
There was a long silence, then the Ancient Flame spoke again. _The one who wants to eat the world._  
  
* * *  
  
"How long do you think that boy can last?" Ganondorf demanded in a low voice as he prowled at the edge of the barrier. "An hour? Maybe less?"  
  
It startled Link to realize that Ganondorf still did not know who was behind the Sheikah disguise._ Good,_ he thought savagely. _The less he knows, the better.  
_  
Link gave no response to Ganondorf's question other than an angry glare. Zelda ignored him completely. Her eyes were closed again, her attention completely focused on maintaining the Wall of Power. Her face was deathly pale.  
  
"The minute that spell breaks, this entire village is mine," Ganondorf hissed. "Which shouldn't be long, I expect-"  
  
Link yanked the Master Sword from its sheath and whirled on him. "I'll show you how long-"  
  
Zelda grabbed his arm before he could take a step and dragged him back down next to her, a surprising feat considering her weakened state. "Don't do that again," she gasped. "I don't have the strength to stop you." She coughed several times. "Just ignore him. He's been taunting me all morning."  
  
"Yes, listen to what the lad tells you," Ganondorf crowed. "Cower behind the barrier; it doesn't matter. I'll break it soon anyway."  
  
Link jumped to his feet. "And I'll cut your throat, you crazy piece of-"  
  
"Link." The voice was Naziri's.  
  
He whirled and felt his jaw drop. Naziri was standing a dozen yards behind him, a halo of fire surrounding her. Ropes of swirling orange flame spiraled all over her body, twirling around her limbs and weaving themselves through her braided hair. She looked more like a goddess than the little Gerudo he knew.  
  
Naziri grinned at him as she deliberately closed the distance between them. She was not limping on her bandaged feet, but practically gliding regally over the grass. Link had a feeling that the fire was helping to support her.  
  
He stepped back instinctively as she passed him, her eyes fixed on Ganondorf. Link glanced at Ganondorf and was astounded all over again. Ganondorf stared at Naziri with his eyes wide and his face pale, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. Rigidly he stepped back as Naziri approached.  
  
The Gerudo stopped next to Zelda. "Let the spell go," she advised. "I can handle him."  
  
"Are you sure?" Zelda rasped, coughing again.  
  
Naziri nodded, her eyes not leaving Ganondorf's.  
  
"Goddesses bless you, Naziri," Zelda gasped. The sparkling blue barrier disappeared and she slumped to the grass in a dead faint.  
  
Link stepped as close as he dared to Naziri, the naked Master Sword ready in his hand. But Ganondorf didn't move. His eyes darted to Link, then back to Naziri.  
  
"I am _very_ disappointed in you, brother," Naziri said softly.  
  
Ganondorf's eyes widened further, if possible, at this statement. Link allowed himself an inward grin. _That's my girl,_ he thought triumphantly.  
  
"I'm no brother to...to fire-children." Ganondorf's eyes were huge and his face as pale as the white desert sand in Pinnasi.  
  
"But you are kin to the desert, of course," Naziri replied with a small smile. "Unless...well, I suppose you've forgotten your roots. No Gerudo acts in such a disgusting way."  
  
"The Gerudo women worshipped me," Ganondorf hissed.  
  
"Not all of them," Link pointed out with a leer. "What about Nabooru? Your own blood sister, too."  
  
Ganondorf's face contorted with fury. "Nabooru is no sister of mine," he spat. "Nabooru is sister to rats and snakes-"  
  
Naziri roared in fury, and a bolt of reddish flame lept from her outstretched fingers to strike against Ganondorf's chest. He shrieked in a guttural language; the fire disappeared and Ganondorf dropped to his knees, shaking visibly.  
  
Link stared at him as an astonishing idea came over him...Ganondorf was afraid of fire.  
  
"Never insult Nabooru in front of me," Naziri whispered silkily through clenched teeth. "Now get out before I burn you to ashes."  
  
Ganondorf climbed shakily to his feet and stared at Naziri's livid face. Then suddenly he began to laugh, loudly and harshly, his shoulders shaking.  
  
"Power?!" he managed to spit out. "You hold the Triforce of Power?"  
  
Naziri gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth.  
  
Ganondorf continued to laugh even as his form began to fade. "Maeve will be very amused to hear this!" And then, quite abruptly, he was gone.  
  
"Oh, no," Naziri whispered, her face pale, as the flames surrounding her faded away. "Oh, no..."  
  
"Is...is he gone then?" It was Gwen. Link and Naziri looked at her, at the entire village standing at Gwen's back.  
  
"Will he return?" Gwen ventured, her eyes wide and frightened.  
  
"I don't know," Link admitted, his eyes flickering to Zelda's crumpled form.  
  
"But we have to leave now, don't we?" Naziri demanded in a whisper. "We can't stay here, now that he knows this is where we've been hiding."  
  
Link clenched his fists in frustration. "If we leave now, Ganondorf may still choose to come back and take his revenge on the village for hiding us. It's not safe for us to stay, and it's not safe for us to leave..."  
  
"A spell?" Naziri offered.  
  
Link shook his head. "This village needs to be protected until Ganondorf is either destroyed or cast back into the void. I don't know of any spell that can be maintained that long."  
  
"Perhaps we can help with that," a strong, clear voice rang from behind them. Link and Naziri whirled around to find, standing at the entrance to Kakariko, Mara of Pinnasi and her entire Sheikah clan.  
  
* * *  
  
To be continued.   



	17. The Ones Who See

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-  
_  
Sorry this chapter took me a while to get out. Been busy as usual lately. Though I don't know why I keep using that as an excuse, since it takes me about two minutes to upload. ^_^  
  
The Sheikah are back in this chapter, and just so everyone knows- I know nothing about them. As in nothing. The only Zelda games I've played are OoT (which tells you very little about Sheikah) and MM (which tells you nothing). So if I've made a bunch of mistakes, that's why. Everything involving Sheikah from here on in is made up.  
  
That's it. Read, review, enjoy, etc.   
  
  


* * *  


  
  


**The Triforce United**  


  
  


* * *  


  
  


The Ones Who See  


  
  
  
Mara put her clan to work immediately. Link and the headwoman conferred in whispers for a few minutes before seeming to reach an agreement. Mara then sent four of her Sheikah to the corners of Kakariko, to "set up focal points", and ordered the rest to make a camp on the grass in the village square.  
  
An unconscious Zelda was carried off to Juniper's home by Link. Naziri remained beside one of the Sheikah who was responsible for setting up a focal point. He was a short, wiry young man with blond hair so pale that it was almost white. His eyes were as black as ebony. He wore a garb similar to Zelda's Sheik costume, with the standard Eye embroidered on the tunic.  
  
He and his fellows only glanced at each other before turning and heading in opposite directions to the corners of the village. Naziri trailed after him as quietly as a shadow, her bandaged feet padding on the soft grass. Surprisingly, Naziri's wounds didn't pain her nearly as much as they had before the confrontation with Ganondorf.   
  
The Sheikah ignored her completely as he headed to a corner near the cemetary under which the Shadow Temple lay. He paced back and forth around the area for a few minutes as if getting his bearings, then removed a small leather pouch from his belt. He sat cross-legged on the grass and emptied the contents of the pouch. Five stones came tumbling out, one green, one red, one blue, one black, and one white.  
  
Watching his actions curiously, Naziri dropped to her knees across from him. The Sheikah absentmindedly fingered the stones as his black eyes raised to gaze into hers. He stared at her silently for a moment, then turned his attention back to the stones.  
  
Naziri held her tongue as the Sheikah arranged the three colored stones in a circle. He put the black stone and the white stone in the middle, then used a twig to draw lines in the dirt between the colored stones, closing the ring.  
  
The Sheikah placed his hand over the black and white stones and whispered something indistinguishable. When he removed his hand, the black stone was casting a dark glow over the circle. The white and colored stones had not changed.  
  
"There is dark power on these grounds," the Sheikah said, removing the white stone from the circle.  
  
Startled, Naziri's gaze jerked from the stones to the Sheikah's face, but he was not looking at her. "The Shadow Temple is under the cemetary over there," she told him eagerly. "Maybe that's the source of the dark power."  
  
The Sheikah merely nodded. He was now removing the colored stones from the circle, leaving only the red stone. He drew a strange sort of symbol at each point where the other stones had rested and put the colored and the white stones back into his pouch.  
  
"Why remove the stones?" Naziri asked curiously, unable to hold her tongue.  
  
"I didn't need them," the young man said simply.  
  
"But why? I mean, what are you doing?" She hesitated, then added, "I'm Naziri, by the way."  
  
"I am called Deran." The Sheikah glanced up at her. "I'm making a point of focus for the spell that we will conduct in this village. The power we will use is drawn from the land. The purpose of the stones is to discover what sort of power is strongest on the grounds of my focal point- whether the power be light or dark, and what element it is drawn from."  
  
"So what did the stones tell you?" Naziri asked eagerly.  
  
"That black magic and fire magic is strongest here."  
  
"And that's the magic you'll use for the spell?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Deran removed a small dagger from his belt. "You and I shall bind the magic. We have the same intent, and fire is strong within you."  
  
Naziri blinked. "How did you know that?"  
  
"We know many things," was the answer. "I shall bind the black magic, and you shall bind the fire. We will bend both magics to our will and order them to maintain the spell."  
  
"Excuse me," Naziri said politely. "I don't think I know how to help you bind the magic."  
  
"I will do it." The Sheikah picked up the dagger in one of his hands and held the other out to Naziri. "Give me your hand, please. Palm up."  
  
Naziri obediently placed her bandaged hand in his. Deran grasped her hand in a strong, firm grip and lightly flicked the dagger across her fingertips, opening small, shallow wounds.  
  
Naziri winced as Deran turned her hand over, letting a few drops of blood fall into the circle. "You could've warned me," she grumbled.  
  
"You could have refused." Deran made sure that several drops of Naziri's blood landed in the circle before letting her go. He opened a small cut on his palm and let his blood fall into the circle as well. Naziri shivered and stuck her sliced fingers in her mouth. The way he casually cut his own flesh -and hers, too- was unnerving.  
  
"Our blood to bind the magic," he explained. He was now picking up handfuls of dirt and covering the stones and the circle. "The earth, to hide us." He plucked a small flower from the ground and laid it on top of the circle, covering it with yet more dirt. "The flower, born in Kakariko, deceased in Kakariko, to focus the spell on the village alone."  
  
Naziri removed her fingers from her mouth. "I don't understand," she told him, frowning.  
  
"You will." He stood, looking distantly toward the village square. "My kin should be finished with their part of the spell. Come."  
  
He led the way to the village square as Naziri trotted along behind him, curious to see what would happen next. The other three Sheikah who had gone to set up focal points were already waiting.  
  
"It's done, then," a young female said with a nod.  
  
"What's done?" Naziri asked curiously, staring around the village. Nothing looked different to her.  
  
Deran smiled slightly. "I will show you." Before Naziri could object, he placed his hand over her eyes, then removed it.  
  
Naziri gasped. The four Sheikah, the villagers who'd been ambling around, everyone in sight had disappeared. Kakariko was completely silent, as if no one had ever been there. Naziri whirled around, looking for some sign of life, but even the chickens were gone. Gates were unlocked, doors stood wide open. Not only had everyone in the village vanished, but it looked as though Kakariko had been deserted, and in a hurry, too.  
  
Then Naziri felt a phantom touch on her eyes, and suddenly the village was as it had been moments ago, still inhabited. Deran stood beside her, looking amused. His companions were gone. Naziri stared around, wide-eyed.  
  
"What...how...?" she sputtered.  
  
"That was our spell," the Sheikah told her with a nod. "Anyone who intrudes on this village will see a ghost town. There will be not a soul in sight, and it will look as though-"  
  
"-the villagers ran away," Naziri finished for him breathlessly. "That's incredible."  
  
Deran shrugged. "It is what we do. We hide, and we see."  
  
"See what?"  
  
"The way things are," Deran said mysteriously.  
  
Naziri didn't realize that they were standing next to the healer's house until the door suddenly swung open, and Zelda emerged. Her face was a gray color and she seemed thinner than ever. She still wore her Sheikah costume, complete with the red eyes.  
  
She said in a wondering voice, "I felt the strangest magic being used-" Then she saw Deran, and stopped.  
  
Deran turned to glance at her, and his eyes widened just the slightest bit. The queen and the Sheikah stared at each other with unblinking gazes for several long moments.  
  
Then Deran spoke. "You are not one of us."  
  
Zelda touched her hair self-consciously. "No, I'm not."  
  
Deran peered at her for another moment. "You are Zelda, queen of Hyrule. You pass as one of us to hide from Ganondorf."  
  
Naziri shook her head, muttering, "How in the hell...?"  
  
"Deran is very insightful," said a dry voice behind them. Naziri, Zelda, and Deran all turned to find Mara, the Sheikah's clan leader, approaching them. Deran bowed politely, and Mara nodded in return.   
  
"I'm guessing he is One Who Sees, Mara?" Zelda asked, her eyes flickering to Deran momentarily before returning to Mara.  
  
"Yes, he is." Mara nodded in greeting to Naziri. "Hello, desert woman. I do not believe we have been formally introduced. I am Mara, the head of my Sheikah clan." She offered a hand.  
  
"My name's Naziri." Naziri grasped her hand firmly. "It's good to meet you."  
  
"A pleasure." Mara's gaze turned to Zelda. "The spell that we have laid upon this village will keep it hidden from the eyes of any outsider. An intruder will see a ghost town, nothing more. It will appear as though the villagers have all run away."  
  
Zelda nodded. She seemed much less impressed by the spell than Naziri had been, but perhaps she was simply too tired to get excited. "Thank you, Mara."  
  
"It was no trouble."  
  
"Excuse me," Naziri said politely. Mara, Deran, and Zelda all looked at her. "I'm sorry if I interrupted. What is a 'one who sees'?"  
  
Mara and Deran both smiled. "They are a rare abnormality in our people," Mara said. "Very rare. Every Sheikah has an extraordinary talent for insight. We know many things. But Ones Who See...they are a different breed altogether. You would perhaps call them seers, for lack of a better word."  
  
"Impa told me about them," Zelda added tiredly. "Their insight is much greater than that of their fellow Sheikah. They can look at a person and know all about them."  
  
Naziri's skin prickled as she looked at Deran. "You can read minds?"  
  
"No," he said calmly. "Not exactly. I might be able to tell what you are thinking now, by reading your patterns-"  
  
"Patterns?"  
  
"Emotions." He closed his eyes momentarily. "You're curious about me. You have a naturally inquisitive mind. But you don't like the thought that I can tell what you're thinking or feeling." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "I shall refrain from reading your patterns, unless you wish me to."  
  
"Can you see the future?" Zelda asked Deran, watching him with a sharp and calculating gaze.  
  
"Sometimes," Deran replied with a shrug. "A person's future will come to me if I read it at the right moment. Midnight is usually best. A more broad future, events that concern an entire land, for example, come harder to me. But sometimes I...dream."  
  
"Deran saw in a dream that Hyrule was in peril," Mara told Zelda and Naziri. "In the same dream he saw our clan, present in the land of Hyrule at the time of its troubles. We left the very morning that he shared the dream with us."  
  
Naziri blinked at her. "You came all this way because of a dream?"  
  
Mara shrugged. "Deran's dreams are reliable. He is not One Who Sees for nothing."  
  
Deran turned to face Naziri, his black eyes glittering. "You have an insatiable curiosity, fire-child. If ever you wish to unlock the mysteries of the future, find me at the midnight hour. I will tell you what I can."  
  
He bowed to the three women and left, leaving both Zelda and Naziri staring after him. Mara nodded to them, and followed.  
  
"Well," Zelda remarked after a moment or two.  
  
"Well," Naziri echoed.  
  
"He likes you."  
  
Naziri glanced at the queen, startled. "You think so?"  
  
"He wouldn't have offered to tell the future for you, otherwise. The Sheikah guard their secrets well."  
  
Naziri followed Zelda as she went to the well, deep in thought. "Can he really tell the future?"  
  
"He can tell lots of things." The queen sat on the rim of the well with a sigh and drank a dipperful of water.  
  
Naziri frowned, pacing back and forth in front of the well. "How do you know that?"  
  
"I know." Zelda shrugged. "My handmaiden, Impa. The Sheikah were her people. She taught me a lot about their ways, and about the Ones Who See. Deran is very talented at what he does."  
  
Naziri sighed. "I hate to be repetative, but-"  
  
"How do I know?" Zelda smiled distantly. "When he was eight, Deran predicted the fall of Hyrule at Ganondorf's hands. Two weeks later, Ganondorf took possesion of the Triforce of Power."  
  
Naziri stared at her, wide-eyed. "You're not serious."  
  
Zelda held up her right hand. "By Nayru's name. I heard it from Impa, who heard it from Mara, who heard it from Deran himself."  
  
"Goddesses," Naziri whispered. Her knees were suddenly very weak.  
  
* * *  
  
It seemed to be taking Kakariko time to get used to the presence of the Sheikah in the village. Zelda suspected it was because Kakariko had such a small population, and were used to having their village to themselves, but Link thought it was more than just that.  
  
"They make me nervous," he confessed to Zelda and Naziri over dinner (a mess of rapidly-cooked rice and vegetables they ate outside, next to the well). "Sheikah, I mean. They make everyone nervous."  
  
Even Zelda, who had known Impa all her life, agreed. "They're that mysterious," she explained to Naziri. "Nobody knows anything about them. And don't ever try to get a straight answer out of them- you'll never succeed."  
  
Link nodded. "Zelda does a very good imitation of them."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zelda demanded.   
  
"You know exactly what I mean," Link retorted. "Back when you were playing Sheik, you never said anything that wasn't a riddle."  
  
"At least they were _helpful_ riddles."  
  
_"Helpful,_ right..."  
  
Naziri tuned out the rest of their bickering. Curiosity piqued, she stared at the Sheikah throughout the rest of the meal, wondering what they were doing. She noticed that they seemed to spend a lot of time being quite still, and wondered how they could stand it.  
  
As the day turned into night and the villagers began to retreat back into their homes, Naziri lost track of her friends and found herself in the middle of the Sheikah camp. None of them seemed to mind her presence; indeed, none of them seemed to take any notice of her at all, except for Deran. He appeared at her side quite shortly after she had appeared in their midst.  
  
"Good evening," he said in his quiet, unruffled tone. "I trust you've experienced no aftereffects of the spell we conducted earlier?"  
  
She glanced at him, startled. "No. Should I be experiencing any?"  
  
"Not a one," he admitted. "If you were, I would know that the spell had gone wrong, and that I should try to find a way to correct it." He smiled at her. "No need to worry about your foes finding you. As long as you are in this village, they could stand directly before you and never know you were there."  
  
"You read my mind," Naziri muttered.  
  
"Not this time. Your emotions show quite clearly on your face." Deran peered at her for a moment. "Are you expecting another attack?"  
  
"I really don't know what to expect." Naziri hesitated for a moment, then quite abruptly, all her worries suddenly poured out.  
  
"I don't like how I got off so easily when I faced Maeve up on that mountain. Well- maybe not easily, exactly, since I probably should have been dead when she dropped me in the lava. But I wasn't, and then I came out fine and attacked Maeve, and she ran away.  
  
"And the same thing with Ganondorf earlier today," she went, hardly pausing for a breath. "I hit him with fire. Once. He didn't die, or even look very badly injured. He just commented that he had to tell Maeve about me having the Triforce of Power, and then he ran, too. Like I said, it was all too easy."  
  
Deran had said nothing thus far, only let her talk. But now that she was finished, he remarked quietly, "It worries you that your enemies did not make a serious attempt to destroy you?"  
  
"Yes. I guess...I guess it just feels like trying to destroy me -all of us- would have been the normal thing to do."  
  
Naziri didn't know that, on the other end of Kakariko, Zelda was expressing the same doubts to Link.  
  
* * *  
  
"It just doesn't make _sense,_" Zelda told Link fiercely as they strolled around the edges of Kakariko Village's cemetary, the only place that was free of villagers and Sheikah alike. "Why would Ganondorf run away just because Naziri attacked him once? That's not his style at all."  
  
They had circled the cemetary twice already, edging carefully around gravestones, as Zelda talked and Link listened. "Well, Naziri did mention that he's afraid of fire," Link pointed out. "Apparently that entity in the Death Mountain volcano -the Ancient Flame, whatever she called it- told her."  
  
"Yes, but no maniac lets his fears hold him back for long."  
  
"So what do you think's going on?" Link asked, hopping to avoid stepping on a flat grave marker at the last moment. "Sorry," he told the grave's inhabitant before they moved on.  
  
Zelda in her turn bowed to the grave, though she had done nothing- neither of them had any wish to incite the wrath of the dead. "I think it's Maeve. I think she's running this operation of theirs, whatever it is."  
  
"You sure about that?" Link asked doubtfully. "She doesn't seem like much more than an annoyance, if you ask me."  
  
"I know," Zelda growled. "That's why this is all so confusing. I can't figure out whether she's putting on a front, or if she really isn't much of a threat."   
  
Link shrugged as their stroll came to a halt. "I couldn't tell you."  
  
"Hm." Zelda looked up; the two had paused beneath the ledge that held the entrance to the Shadow Temple. Abruptly she crouched and sprang to catch the edge with one hand, then struggled to pull the rest of her up.  
  
"Zelda!" Link yelled as she disappeared from his view. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Asking for help," she called. "Impa, love! Come tell me what's going on!"  
  
There was a half-expectant silence, but Impa did not appear. "C'mon back down, Zelda," Link said edgily after a moment. "Just being near this temple makes me nervous. I keep thinking the dead are going to come staggering out of it."  
  
Zelda appeared over the lip of the ledge to peer down at him. "Naziri told me she wants to see all the temples once Hyrule's latest threat is gone. What are you going to do then?"  
  
"Take her to see them all," Link replied steadily.   
  
"Even the Shadow Temple?"  
  
"Even the Shadow Temple."  
  
Zelda smiled and hopped off the ledge to land on all fours, catlike, at Link's side. "What a nice guy," she said as she straightened. "It's too bad things never worked about between you and me, Link."  
  
Link stared at her, startled. "I-I didn't think-"  
  
Zelda smiled, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it now. I'm just saying, it would have been nice, that's all." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his forehead, then pranced away, leading the way out of the graveyard. "C'mon, it's too dark to be wandering around in a cemetary. Let's go and get some sleep, while we still can."  
  
* * *  
  
When the moon rose, Naziri bade the Sheikah good night and left to seek out a place to settle herself. She chose a secluded area near the windmill, where the mill's humming could lull her to sleep. It did so almost instantly, and she sank into a dream that was far from restful.  
  
* * *  
  
_She stood in the grass of a rolling field, stretching on as far as the eye could see. A hot wind was blowing, drying the moisture from her skin. It was odd, really. Since the Triforce of Power had been given to her, Naziri found that any kind of heat was tolerable, even the heat of a flame. But now she rubbed itching arms, wishing this particular heat was no longer touching her.  
  
Maeve appeared before her, surrounded by a halo of flame. Her face was twisted in pain as the fire licked at her. She looked at Naziri, and she grimaced.  
  
"You think you've bested me, don't you?" she snarled. "Our confrontation on Death Mountain was only a taste of what's going to come. I'll remember you, bitch. Yours will be the first soul I eat."_  
  
* * *  
  
Naziri's eyes flew open. She sat up very slowly, looked around, and climbed to unsteady feet. The village was as quiet as death.  
  
She swallowed hard and, as if guided by some unknown force, went to seek out Deran.  
  
* * *  
  
To be continued.  
  
(Me likes the next chapter. It's chilling! ^_^)  
  



	18. Vision of Hunger

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-  
  
_Agh, I can't believe this...chapter 16 got cut off! Thanks to Yuuki for pointing it out, I'd probably never have noticed. -.-;; Anyway, I will fix that as soon as possible. I only have time to do one posting tonight and I really want to get this chapter up, so...  
  
Read, review, enjoy!  


  
***  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
  
***  


  


Vision of Hunger  
  


  
Naziri found Deran in a corner of the cemetary, looking as though he were entranced. The young Sheikah sat cross-legged on the ground, palms pressed flat to the earth. He was staring straight ahead and breathing very slowly, as if asleep, and dark or not, his pupils were unnaturally large.  
  
Naziri felt a slight chill go up her spine as she approached him. "Deran?" she asked softly, coming as close to him as she dared.  
  
He did not respond.  
  
She swallowed hard and stepped a bit closer, then squatted so that she was eye-level with the Sheikah.   
  
"Deran," she said again.  
  
He blinked. His pupils grew smaller as he focused on her.  
  
"I thought it was you," he remarked calmly.  
  
Naziri sat clumsily in the dirt, crossing her legs, and held her ankles tightly. "I have to ask you something," she whispered, rocking back and forth slightly.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Maeve. What is she?"  
  
Deran looked at her, and a slow smile spread over his face. Naziri felt her scalp prickle. That smile aged him ten years.  
  
"I am a step ahead of you, fire-child," he whispered to her, so quietly that Naziri had to lean closer to hear what he was saying. "Tonight, under the glow of red stars, I looked within myself. I found her secret- the secret that lies in you, and in me, and in every being who represses their predatory instinct."  
  
"What instinct?" Naziri asked, hardly daring to breathe.  
  
"To eat," was the chilling reply.  
  
Naziri stared at him, wide-eyed. The back of her neck prickled.  
  
"Eat?" she croaked.  
  
"Yes. I have found her within us all, Naziri." Deran's black eyes glittered. "If you wish, I will show you."  
  
"You can do that?"  
  
"Yes." The Sheikah reached out and placed both hands on the sides of her face, his eyes capturing hers. Then he paused. "Shall I?"  
  
Naziri swallowed and nodded. "Do it."  
  
He did.  
  
***  
_  
The stench of death, of rotting flesh, was everywhere. Overpowering her. Naziri gagged, then placed a hand over her mouth and nose and tried to take short breaths.  
  
It was very dark, and she couldn't see a thing through the gloom. She was glad. She didn't want to see whatever was out there. Because she could hear it just fine; every breath it took, rattling through its lungs as it inhaled and exhaled. Naziri's scalp prickled with horror at that sound.  
  
The smell overwhelmed her once more. Naziri coughed, then clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, but it was too late. A light flared out of nowhere, and suddenly she could see. Too well.  
  
It was enormous. It towered above her, sitting straight-backed and rigid on a massive throne made of piles of something white. Naziri looked closely and recoiled in disgust and terror- the throne was made of human and animal bones.  
  
She wanted to look away, but it was impossible. Her eyes were riveted on the thing. It could have been female...but no female ever looked like that. It was tall, rigid, and emanciated, its wrinkled gray flesh sagging off its bones. It wore a gown like a queen's, only the gown was dirtied and torn, and stained with a dark, reddish-brown substance that Naziri knew to be old blood.  
  
Its arms and legs were long and dragging, its torso so thin that it was barely a skeleton. Instead of nails, the tips of its spindly fingers were capped with hooked claws, the yellowish color of old fingernails. These too, were crusted with dried blood, a sight that made Naziri want to vomit.  
  
But its body was nothing compared to its face. Its sagging flesh drooped so much it looked as though it might simply fall off at any moment. Its black hair was scraggly and disgustingly oily, clumped in thick strands that fell limpy down its shoulders. It had two slits where a nose should have been, which opened slightly and closed with every breath it took. Its eyes were missing as well; black voids as dark as the darkest midnight stretched on forever within its eye sockets.   
  
Its mouth was closed. It was staring elsewhere. Naziri prayed. To Din. To Farore and Nayru. To the Goddess of Sand, and any other entity who might listen.  
  
Her prayers went unanswered.  
  
Naziri watched, frozen in stark terror, as its head turned slowly. It stopped when the black voids were gazing at her. Eyeless or not, it saw her.  
  
Its lips pulled back in a snarl. Petrified, Naziri stared at the wide, gaping mouth lined with rows upon rows of sharp, spiny teeth. Blood gushed through its teeth and streamed down its chin.  
  
Naziri screamed silently. Her throat had locked. She could not make a sound._  
  
***  
  
"Naziri," a voice said, and she blinked. She was aware that she was no longer in the presence of the thing, but it was all she was aware of. She stared at nothing, feeling nothing but her own body trembling. She was cold, colder than she'd ever been.  
  
She thought she heard the voice say her name again, but she wasn't sure. It didn't matter. The voice couldn't even reach her, let alone touch her.  
  
Then something was pressed into her hands. She was aware of warmth against her palms and fingertips.  
  
"Drink, Naziri," the voice commanded.  
  
Then it was a mug, maybe? Of something. But what was she supposed to do with it?  
  
"Naziri. Drink it."  
  
Slowly she raised the mug to her lips, and drank. Hot, bitter liquid scalded her throat and left her mouth feeling completely scoured out.  
  
And suddenly she was in the corner of the graveyard again, and Deran was watching her with concern.  
  
She spat what she hadn't swallowed of the liquid on the grass. "Goddesses, that was awful!" she cried.  
  
Then memory returned, so fast that Naziri reeled. She staggered to her feet, hands clamped over her mouth, and managed to stumbled a few steps away before falling to her knees and vomiting up what felt like a hundred meals.  
  
She coughed when she was done, scooped dirt over the mess, and tottered back to where Deran sat.  
  
He placed another mug into her shaking hands. Naziri stared at it.  
  
"Drink," the Sheikah reminded her gently.  
  
She obeyed. This liquid seemed to be tea of some sort, far milder than the last. It had a pleasant spicy flavor, and it seemed to fill every part of her, until she was warm again.  
  
When she handed the mug back, her hands were still shaking, but she was no longer terrified out of her wits. She was even aware enough to notice that between her and Deran was a small fire over which two pots of liquid simmered, none of which had been there before the Sheikah gave her the vision.  
  
"How long-" Naziri's emerged as a croak. She cleared her throat.  
  
"Fifteen minutes," Deran answered in response to her unfinished question. "Long enough for me to brew the tea that pulled you out of your trance."  
  
Naziri shuddered. She didn't much relish the idea of spending three seconds, let alone fifteen minutes, with the thing in the vision. "Farore defend me," she murmured weakly. "That was horrible."  
  
Deran nodded, and even he looked pale. "That is what I have foreseen. This is what Maeve will become, if you and your friends do not stop her."   
  
"What is she?" Naziri whispered.  
  
"A being that has the potential to take on that form. The one who wants to eat the world." A cold wind whispered through the cemetary, and they both shuddered involuntarily.  
  
"It is called the Devourer," Deran added.  
  
Naziri nodded grimly. "I'd better wake up Zelda and Link."  
  
***   
  
The two Hylians, the Gerudo, and the Sheikah grouped around the fire while Naziri expained Deran's vision in as best detail as she could. When she was finished, Zelda stared at the fire silently for a minute, then looked up at Deran. Her eyes were glittering.  
  
"I want to see it," she said, her mouth set in a grim, determined line.  
  
"It will paralyze you," Deran warned. "The vision is not to be taken lightly, as the fire-child will tell you." He nodded to Naziri.  
  
"I don't care," Zelda snapped. "I want to know what we might end up facing."  
  
Deran shrugged. It was not his nature to argue, especially with someone as headstrong as Hyrule's queen. He knelt before Zelda, placed his hands on her head, and gave her the vision.  
  
Zelda shrieked, once, and fainted.  
  
Without hesitation Link dashed to the well for a bucket of water and threw its contents over the queen. She woke instantly, but sat alone with her knees drawn to her face and shuddered, talking to no one until Deran brewed some more of his warm, soothing tea and gave it to her.  
  
"That was the most terrifying thing I've seen in my life," Zelda whispered between sips as she finally began to recover.  
  
The Sheikah asked Link if he wanted to see it.  
  
"No, thanks," Link replied, shaking his head emphatically. "Naziri and Zelda can point her out to me when we meet her."  
  
None of them were even remotely amused. A deafening silence fell over them as they contemplated what could very well be their future.  
  
Finally, Zelda spoke. Her voice still shook, but she spoke with steely determination. "I have to know more. If that...that _thing_ might someday come into existence...I have to know how to fight it. What its weaknesses are, its strengths. How to kill it. And how to prevent it, if I can."  
  
Deran nodded and climbed to his feet. "I will wake up Mara. She should know."  
  
Zelda, Link, and Naziri waited silently as Deran found Mara and brought her to the fireside. There he described the vision to her and what he already knew it meant, with Naziri and Zelda adding their input every now and then. Mara did not ask to see the vision, and Deran did not offer.  
  
When Deran finished explaining Mara nodded, her red eyes glittering. "This is very distressing."  
  
"Is there any way we can get more information?" Zelda demanded urgently. "I need to know more about that thing than just what it looks like."  
  
Mara looked to Deran for the answer, who took a deep breath and stared back at her meaningfully. Mara's eyes widened slightly.  
  
"Oh, no."  
  
"Yes," Deran said, very grimly. "I think it's time to resurrect Dali."  
  
Mara let out a breath. "Is there no other way...?"  
  
"I cannot think of any other solution."  
  
Mara closed her eyes, looking very grim indeed. "If it's our only choice, then."  
  
Link, Zelda, and Naziri stared at the two, then at each other, their expressions pure bewilderment. "Who or what is Dali?" Zelda asked in a tone that revealed she was dreading the answer.  
  
Mara and Deran glanced at each other, then at Zelda, and spoke in unison.  
  
"He's a librarian."  
  
***  
  
To be continued.  
  



	19. Dali's Library

_A note from the Hime no Argh...  
  
_Short note this time. Read. Do all that. And hey, look at my other fic, newly uploaded! It's called _A Tale of Seven Years_ and it's about what happened to Zelda during those...seven years. It's very dark, very creepy. Good stuff. Check it out, please!! Thanks so much. ^_^ And on with this story...**  
**

  
***  
**  
  
The Triforce United**  
  
  
***  


  


Dali's Library  


  
When the sun rose, Mara very reluctantly led an expedition that included Deran, Zelda, Link, and Naziri out into Hyrule Field, searching for a place remote enough to summon Dali. As they walked, Mara explained the legend of the bookkeeper that the Sheikah dreaded so much.  
  
"Centuries ago, in the days of the ancient sages, the Sage of Shadow was a Sheikah called Gimma. Dali was brother to her, and never did you see such a contradicting pair. Gimma was everything you could expect of a Sheikah- quiet, stately, intuitive. But Dali-" Mara shook her head as his mere name was a cause for terrible shame. "People were shocked to discover that Dali was of Sheikah blood. He was loud, boisterous, bad-tempered...he shamed his clan. His only talents lay in books. He could read a book once and remember all of it, word for word. It was remarkable, really, but no one could overlook his personality enough to care.  
  
"Except, of course, for his sister. Though they were opposites, Gimma and Dali loved each other very much. Gimma lived a long life as the Sage of Shadow and performed great deeds for our people and the goddesses of the Triforce, but Dali suffered a rather pointless existance and died young. Gimma thought it a shame that his talents had gone to waste, so she decided to plead his case for the goddesses.  
  
"It was perfect. You see, the goddesses had long been searching for a worthy scholar to guard the written word of Hyrule- the word of past, present, and future. It would have been a terrible shame if all the great texts written by so many great scholars had gone to waste, remembered by no one. So they sought a person with the capacity of mind and memory required to become Bookkeeper of Hyrule. Dali was the perfect candidate."  
  
Mara paused to catch her breath, sitting on a nearby stump. The travelers had arrived at the northeast side of what used to be Hyrule castle, where a small stream isolated a bit of land under which a Fairy Fountain lay.   
  
"Is this where we're going to summon your librarian?" Naziri asked, looking around curiously.  
  
Mara nodded. "Whenever we must call on him, we try to do so as far away from civilization as possible, as to keep the scourge of our people quiet."  
  
Zelda looked scandalized. "'The scourge of our people'?" Isn't that a little harsh?"  
  
"When you meet him, you may decide," Mara replied dryly. "I really wish this wasn't necessary, but Deran knows best..."  
  
Link nervously fingered the handle of his sword. "What makes you so sure that this Dali person can help us?" he demanded of Deran.  
  
Deran shrugged. "Intuition. Nothing more."  
  
"Great," Zelda muttered. "I guess we'd better just get this over with."  
  
"Indeed." Mara took a deep breath and turned away from them, facing an open stretch of land. "Sheikah Dali, Bookkeeper of Hyrule, your clan summons you. We call upon your great wisdom and your vast wealth of knowledge, and ask you to admit us within the walls of your Library-"  
  
Quite abruptly, rather rudely, the five stood suddenly inside a large room filled to the brim with piles and piles of old, dusty books and scrolls. All of them had to stifle sudden coughs with their hands as they breathed in lungfulls of dust.  
  
"So!" proclaimed a high, whining, nasal voice. "Once again my aid is needed for my dear people-" This word was annunciated with derision, "-the same people who consider me their shame! Hah!"  
  
Mara sighed. "Hello, Dali."  
  
The librarian gazed at them in a rather unwelcoming way from the top of a pile of books before carefully climbing down to stand haughtily before them. He was tiny -the top of his head barely reached Naziri's waist, and she was the shortest of the group- and thickset, with a clump of muddy brown hair and small, watery gray eyes. He wore a ridiculously ornate set of robes, the tasteless colors clashing so painfully that they hurt the eyes.   
  
Link, Zelda, and Naziri all gaped at him openmouthed. They had never seen anyone who looked less like a Sheikah.  
  
"You're a dignified bunch, aren't you?" Dali scorned in his annoyingly nasal voice (Link, Zelda, and Naziri immediately closed their mouths). His watery gray eyes turned to Mara. "And here's the head of the Pinnasi clan. I only talked to you once, I remember, and I'm sure I was quite unimpressed." His gaze moved on to Deran. "And here's the great 'One Who Sees', as if that counts for anything in the long run!"  
  
Mara rolled her eyes, but Deran seemed quite unfazed. "We need your help," he said calmly. "I've had a vision of a creature who could end the world-"  
  
"Oh, another one of those, eh?" Dali interrupted. "Ooh, the world's in danger of apocalypse once again. Better go to Dali! Let's use him to slave away looking up scrolls and text-"  
  
"You don't _slave_ at anything," Mara snapped, her normally cool exterior breaching. "You live in the lap of luxury when you're not called to your _neglected_ library."  
  
"Speak to me that way, will you!" Dali shrieked. "Go on, and then see how willing I am to give you aid!"  
  
"Dali." The speaker this time was Zelda; she stepped past Mara and Deran to offer the librarian a sweet smile. "I knew about you even before Mara told me. You know Impa, don't you? She's a descendant of your sister Gimma, I believe."  
  
Dali's small eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, I know Impa. The Sage of Shadow these days, isn't she?"  
  
"That's right. She was my handmaiden before she was a sage. She told me a lot about the Sheikah and I'm sure she mentioned you at least once-"  
  
"Only once, hm? She must be as ungrateful as the rest of the Sheikah."  
  
"Maybe." Zelda shrugged in acknowledgement. "But the point is, she mentioned also that you were living pretty well for yourself when you didn't have to come to your library to look up something. As I can see-" Her gaze swept the library. "You've gotten a bit lazy about keeping this place in order, eh? I don't think the goddesses would like to hear that."  
  
"Yeah, is that right? And who's gonna tell 'em?"  
  
Link jumped in at that moment. "Don't you know who you're speaking to, Dali?" he asked with a sly grin.  
  
Dali's eyes narrowed uncertainly.  
  
"She's the queen of Hyrule," Link went on lazily as if Dali had asked. "The one who holds a piece of the Triforce and a direct link to the goddesses."  
  
Zelda displayed the back of her hand. Dali stared at the gold Triforce mark for a moment. They could see the gears turning in his brain, then...  
  
"Subject?" he barked.  
  
Zelda said, "The Devourer."  
  
"Devourer..." Dali stared off into space for a moment, musing that over, then his eyes became sharp and alert once more. "No dates? References?"  
  
"We know only what we saw in Deran's vision," Mara said in a voice that indicated she was keeping a tight rein on her temper. "What it looks like, and what its name is."  
  
Dali looked at Deran, a smirk twisting his lips. "You Ones Who See are all the same...nothing but a bunch of nervous fortune tellers who rely on vague, useless visions."  
  
"My visions are not useless," Deran retorted in a slightly sharper voice than usual. "And in this case, far from vague. I'd be happy to show you just how clear the Devourer is, but I think it would be a waste of our time if you were paralyzed with fear."  
  
"Ooh, I'm so scared-"  
  
"Dali!" Mara snapped, her patience at an end.  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Dali walked off muttering among the piles of books as Mara regained her composure. The librarian poked around here and there before finally emerging with a thick, dusty scroll that looked as though it might fall apart at any moment.   
  
He handed it to Zelda with a flourish. "There you are. The two hundred and sixty-seven apocalyptic premonitions of Kaepora Gaebora, the Ancient Sage of Light."  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	20. The Owl Scroll

_A note from the Hime no Argh-  
  
_Okay guys, next chapter. I know it took me a really long time to get it out and I'm very very sorry. Still haven't quite finished yet, but I will soon.  
  
Might be putting out a chapter of _A Tale of Seven Years_ today too. Well, take a look. And enjoy this one.  


  
***  
  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
  
***  


  


The Owl Scroll  


  
"What?!" Link gasped. "Did you say that scroll is written by Kaepora Gaebora?"  
  
Dali stared at him. "Yes, that's right. It's called the Owl Scroll. Your Devourer is in there. The one hundred and forty-fifth premontion, I believe."  
  
"The Owl Scroll...so it is written by the Kaepora I know." Noticing the stares of Dali, Mara, Deran, Zelda, and Naziri, Link explained, "When I was a child, searching for the Spiritual Stones, Kaepora took it upon himself to guide me and help me out every now and then. But...he was a giant owl, and besides, I thought Rauru is the Sage of Light."  
  
"He is," Dali confirmed with a nod, "now. I said ancient sage, genius. Kaepora was the first in the line of Sages of Light, just like Gimma was the first Sage of Shadow."   
  
"I'm sure I read about him somewhere. He founded our people, didn't he?" Zelda said thoughtfully. "The Hylians, I mean."  
  
Dali nodded. "Yup. Came across the sea from the north with a group of his people in the days when Hyrule still belonged to the Sheikah. Unfortunately, the poor old boy caught the downside of a curse and was transformed into the giant owl of which you speak."  
  
"But he disappeared when I became an adult," Link said, frowning.  
  
"Impa told me that he decided to head south once Ganondorf had been thrown in the void," Zelda remarked. "He's getting on in his years, you know, and I guess he was looking for a nice tropical island to retire on." She winked at Naziri. "Maybe he settled in Pinnasi. I heard he likes deserts."  
  
Naziri frowned. "But I never saw a giant owl."  
  
"Thrilling as this conversation is," Dali interrupted loudly, "you five have your scroll and I'd like to have my library back, if you wouldn't mind."  
  
"Are you sure that's everything?" Mara growled. "I find it hard to believe that you can find just one section in one scroll."  
  
Dali glared at her. "What do you take me for, eh? Think I don't know my library inside-out? Think I have any wish to delay you happy bunch?!"  
  
"Ask a stupid question," Mara muttered. "Very well, then, we'll be taking our leave. Good day to you, Sheikah Dali."  
  
"And a happy new year!" Dali roared, and quite suddenly the five were sitting on their backsides in the corner of Hyrule Field, Zelda clutching the Owl Scroll in one hand.  
  
"Well," the queen remarked as she climbed to her feet. About to say more, she appeared to think better of it.  
  
Mara sighed as she, too, climbed to her feet. "Now you know why we consider him our scourge."  
  
***  
  
It was already late afternoon when the five arrived back in Hyrule Field, so they decided to spend the night camping under the stars. Zelda built up a fire so that she could study the Owl Scroll late into the night. She spoke to no one as the others ate a dinner of what game they could find out in the field and sat watching the fire slowly die.  
  
Finally Link ventured, "How's that scroll coming, Zelda?"  
  
She didn't even twitch. Crouched over the scroll on the other end of the fire, she read rapturously and urgently by the firelight.  
  
Naziri was the only one daring enough to risk interrupting her to get a peek at the Owl Scroll. She stood and crept around the fire to peer over Zelda's shoulder, then crept back a few moments later.  
  
"I can't understand a word," she reported to the others. "It's in some other language that I've never seen before."  
  
"The Word of the Ancient Sages," Mara and Deran chorused in unison, and smiled at each other. "Gimma invented the language in which the texts of sages are written, so as to prevent their secrets from falling into the wrong hands," Mara explained. "It is said that only one of a righteous heart can learn to read the Word. Impa must have taught Zelda. The language is passed through the bloodline of shadow sages."  
  
At that moment, Zelda tossed the scroll aside with a grunt of frustration. "This thing is driving me crazy!" she exploded. "I can read the language it's written in, but not very well. I have to translate it very slowly, word by word, and there are entire sections I can't read at all! But I keep-" She broke off for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. "I keep getting this feeling of urgency. It's going to happen soon, I just know it. And we won't be able to stop it." She jumped to her feet and walked away from them a few yards, running a hand restlessly through her hair.  
  
Link went and retrieved the discarded scroll. "I think I'll give this back to her when morning comes," he commented. "Maybe a night's sleep will help clear her mind. And ours," he added as an afterthought.  
  
"Here's hoping," Naziri said, stretching out on her back to gaze up at the stars.  
  
***  
  
_Naziri stood on a sunny, rolling plane, facing a door. That in itself was utterly bizarre- just a plain, flat, wooden door standing upright in the grass, ornamented with a brass knob and lock mechanism. A gold Triforce mark was painted on it, dead center. The door was closed, only one side facing her. Naziri wondered briefly what she'd see if she opened the door. Would she see the field through it, stretching on for miles? Or something else?  
  
There was a light touch on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin with shock and fear. She whirled, but it was only Link.  
  
"What's going on?" she demanded.  
  
"I think this is a dream," he replied distantly, looking past her to the door with alert, wary eyes. "A prophetic one, maybe, though I've never dreamt them with someone else."  
  
"Me neither," said another voice. Naziri turned and saw Zelda standing at her left.   
  
"Look," Link said, nodding to the door.  
  
Naziri turned to face the door once again. Two figures had appeared beside it- Maeve and Ganondorf. Link, Zelda, and Naziri watched silently as the pair inspected the door, neither of them appearing to take notice of their observers. Maeve's lips moved with words they could not hear; Ganondorf in his turn produced a large, brown key in one hand. He inserted the key into the lock below the doorknob, then stood back with a flourish.  
  
Maeve smiled and placed her hand over the knob. Instantly the knob flared white-hot and Maeve yelled silently, yanking her hand back. She snarled in anger and pain and her lips pulled back more than they should have, a wave of blood streaming suddenly down her chin. Zelda made a small, choking sound and pressed a hand to her mouth.  
  
Maeve grabbed the knob once more and flung the door open. Beyond it, an enormous shadow shrieked in hunger._  
  
***  
  
Naziri bolted upright, her eyes flying open. Beside her was the sound of heavy, labored breathing- Zelda was awake as well, a hand pressed over her heart.  
  
"You mean that Maeve needs only access to the Sacred Realm to become the Devourer?" the queen gasped.  
  
_"Yes."_ The quiet, gentle voice they heard now was Farore's. _"The sources of power in the Sacred Realm are many, and Maeve is full of power already."_  
  
"From where?" Naziri and Zelda demanded in unison.   
  
_"This is power she has been harboring for generations, waiting for her chance. Remember, Naziri, when you encountered her drinking of the Death Mountain volcano? She was gathering strength, the same that she will discard in order to fulfill her hunger and her ambitions."_  
  
"If she's been harboring her strength, why does she need the power of the Sacred Realm to transform herself?" That was Link. He, too, was awake and sitting up, staring at the sky.  
  
It was Zelda who answered that question. "The scroll," she said slowly. "It mentioned something about how time is running short, for both the protagonist and the antagonist...she can transform only during a celestial event."  
  
"What kind of celestial event?" Naziri asked, bewildered.  
  
_"A solar eclipse,"_ Farore replied quietly. _"There is one the day after tomorrow."_  
  
There was a shocked silence.  
  
"I completely forgot..." Zelda whispered at last.  
  
"Why didn't someone tell us what the problem was?" Link demanded furiously. "You're telling me that in two days' time, Maeve is going to get to the Sacred Realm and become the Devourer? What the hell can we do with that?!"  
  
_"We did not know how serious the situation was until Deran consulted his spirits and found the vision of the Devourer. If only we had had some idea...but now, it seems, there is nothing we can do."_  
  
"I still don't understand," Naziri declared, shaking her head. "Why does Maeve need to go to the Sacred Realm?"  
  
_"In truth, she doesn't. She could wait until another celestial event. Alignments and eclipses and such things aid power during a transformation, especially one routed in evil, and for such a difficult transformation, Maeve will need all the power she can get."_  
Farore paused, and there was a shudder in her voice when she continued. _"But she is not patient. Maeve has been waiting for centuries to become a creature greater and more terrible than any goddess. A solar eclipse is a great celestial event. Maeve can harness the power of the Sacred Realm and transform under the eclipse...and be greater, indeed, than the most powerful goddess who ever lived."  
_  
"What will she do, once this happens?" Zelda whispered.  
  
_"She will begin with the Sacred Realm. The realm itself is a perfect place for her to transform, for it is brimming with life. She will eat the life in the Sacred Realm, then Hyrule, then all the world until there is nothing left but darkness and death. And then she will reshape the world in her own image- a world in which the souls of all creatures will be tormented for eternity."_  
  
There was complete and utter silence, as the horror of such a future was contemplated.  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Link asked at last, his voice sounding slightly choked.  
_  
"Your best chance is to go to the Sacred Realm and try to stop Maeve there. Zelda can open the door for you. You must try and stop her before she transforms, for if she does...I do not see what hope there can be left."  
_  
"Can't we try to stop Maeve before she goes to the Sacred Realm?" Link demanded.  
  
_"Try to find her in two days' time, my dear man. I fear you shall be searching through the apocalypse."_  
  
"So that's why she needed Ganondorf," Zelda remarked quietly, more to herself than to anyone else. "He's going to open the door to the Sacred Realm for her. Just like in the dream."  
  
_"Yes,"_ Farore said. _"Now you know what is to come. We have done our best for you, and unfortunately, we can do no more. But, Zelda...try reading the Owl Scroll again."  
_  
They all knew then that Farore had gone, as if they'd seen her walk away. Amazingly, Mara and Deran had slept through the entire conversation. Dawn was just peeking over the horizon.  
  
Zelda climbed to her feet and walked to Link's side, where the scroll lay. She picked it up and opened it to Kaepora's one hundred and forty-fifth premonition, lips pursed as she quickly scanned the words. Somehow, through Farore's will, the scroll was now easily readable.  
  
"There's a section here about us," she said softly after a few moments of reading. When neither of her friends replied, only waited for her to continue, she did.   
  
"'The Three United will stand against the hungry one in the last battle, and through the power of the goddesses, both sides will fall.'"  
  
Zelda raised her eyes and met Link's and Naziri's. The three gazed at each other wordlessly. There was nothing to say.  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


	21. Prelude to Battle

_A note from the Hime no Argh herself-_  
  
Yes, I'm posting again! It's incredible! Sorry it's taken me so long. I think I've finally gotten over my writer's block though where this story is concerned. I just hope my readers haven't forgotten TTU exists!  
  
Yes, this novel is winding down. Yes, the ending is just a few chapters away. I'm kind of depressed about it, honestly, because I've spent so much time on this story and soon it's going to be finished. *sob* Well, I've got my other Zelda fic to think about, so it's not so bad (hey, take a look at that if you haven't already! It's called _A Tale of Seven Years_).   
  
Anyway, please read and review. I don't own Zelda.  
  


***  
  
**The Triforce United**  
  
***  


  


Prelude to Battle  


  
It was a grim, depressed little group that made its way back to Kakariko when the sun rose after that fateful night. Link, Zelda, and Naziri used to trip home to fill in Mara and Deran of everything they knew from their dream and what Farore had told them, and the two Sheikah were very distressed. But for the "three united" it was worse. If what the Owl Scroll said was true, they were going to die the very next day.  
  
Back in Kakariko, Link and Mara volunteered to inform the villagers and the Sheikah of what was going on, feeling their people had a right to know that their world might very well end tomorrow. Zelda, not wanting to hear it all again, took Naziri and holed them both up in the town's windmill. There they sat together and listened to nothing but the humming and clacking of the mill.  
  
Naziri did not protest their seclusion. In truth, it was a relief to have the noisy mill to concentrate on, rather than her own morose thoughts. Yet they were there for only an hour or so before Link showed up, frowning at the sight of them.  
  
"Are you two just going to stay in here until tomorrow?" he demanded.  
  
Zelda glared at him. "Yes, actually, I was thinking of doing just that. At least in here I can retreat into my shell without certain people trying to drag me out of it. Even queens need shells, sometimes."  
  
Link glared right back, but his eyes looked weary. "Fine, do what you want. I need to talk to Naziri, anyway."  
  
Naziri got to her feet and followed Link out of the windmill. Unlike the headstrong Zelda, it simply was not in her nature to argue, unless it was for something important.  
  
Link turned to face her just outside the windmill. There was no need to worry about Zelda eavesdropping; even if she wanted to, the noise of the windmill would drown out almost any other sound.  
  
"I think I know what you're going to say," Naziri commented before Link could open his mouth.  
  
He hesitated. "What's that?"  
  
"You're going to tell me that I don't need to come with you and Zelda to the Sacred Realm tomorrow. You two are going because you have a duty to your homeland, but I have no connection here, so I don't need to concern myself." Naziri shook her head. "You're wrong, though, Link. I have every connection here. I've made a home for myself in Hyrule, and I have no wish to see it destroyed. And it's not just Hyrule that's in danger, but the whole world. I have to worry about my Gerudo sisters, and about the sages and the Sheikah's home back in Pinnasi. Besides, I'm united with you and Zelda under the Triforce. If what this Owl Scroll says is true, I sort of have to fight."  
  
Naziri was glad that Link listened without interrupting; it made what she had to say so much easier. Now that she had finished, Link sighed and smiled painfully. "It's funny. I knew you were going to say all that, too. I just thought I'd try, I guess."  
  
"I appreciate that," Naziri said, and meant it, because she knew Link had tried only because he cared about her, and didn't want to see her hurt. Or dead.  
  
"This is bad," Link whispered, giving voice to Naziri's thoughts. "Tomorrow one or two or all of us is going to die, according to that damn scroll."  
  
Naziri tried a smile. "At least Maeve will be killed as well," she offered. "'Both sides will fall,' it said."  
  
"That's one of the reasons I admire you, Naziri," Link said ruefully. "Even in a situation like this, you still manage to be optimistic."  
  
"Oh, I don't know if it's optimism," Naziri said solemnly. "My mother spent the first half of my life letting me know how insane I am. She was probably right."  
  
Link smiled at that; the expression quickly faded, leaving him looking terribly weary. "Listen, there's some things I have to take care of before we go to the Sacred Realm tomorrow. There's Navi, and I should go to the Lon Lon Ranch to tell Malon what's happening. So I guess that I should take this opportunity to...to say..."  
  
"See you later?" Naziri suggested.  
  
Link's eyes were shadowed, but the smile he offered was genuine. "Exactly the phrase I was looking for." He looked around, as if checking to make sure no one was watching, then put a hand under her chin and tilted her face upward. "I'm doing this now because I might never get another chance to, so don't be offended."   
  
He kissed her and Naziri stood shock-still, thunderstruck.  
  
When he pulled away she pressed her fingers to her lips, speechless in one of those rare moments of her life. "That was for good luck," Link murmered, pale spots of color appearing on his cheeks.  
  
Naziri quite abruptly threw her arms around him. "I like the way you wish good luck," she confided.  
  
Link's only response was to wrap his arms around her and kiss her again, desperately. After a few moments he pulled away gently, and kissed her forehead. Then he strode away, leaving her with far more to think about than what tomorrow might bring.  
  
***  
  
At Link's request, Navi accompanied him and Epona as they galloped across Hyrule Field, heading toward Lon Lon Ranch. Link thought he had better use this opportunity to tell Navi something she did not want to hear.  
  
"You're not coming with us," Link said flatly when his fairy demanded to know what he wanted to talk to her about.  
  
"What?!" Navi squealed, outraged. "What do you mean, I'm not coming with you?!"  
  
"I mean you're not coming. The scroll says we're going to die, Navi. You're not dying with us."  
  
Navi landed on Epona's mane, her wings buzzing angrily. "I've been with you in every important battle you've ever fought," she snapped. "I guided you through the temples. I told you where to go when Sheik was no help. I helped you defeat Ganon-"  
  
"I know, Navi, I know," Link replied, his voice softer. "It's not that I don't appreciate all the help that you've given me. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for you. But..." Link had to stop and swallow the lump in his throat. Navi said nothing. "I just don't want to see you dead, all right? Besides, someone has to stay here and take care of Malon, and the Kakariko villagers, and Saria and the sages...and Epona. Someone has to stay and be with Epona."   
  
Link's mare flicked an ear back and forth uneasily, and Navi hesitated. "But- if you're going to die, then I should die with you. You're my charge, remember?"  
  
"I know," Link said grimly. "And I don't care. It's enough knowing that Naziri and Zelda might both die tomorrow, and I can't do anything about it. I want to at least know that you're going to be safe."  
  
"Stupid kid," Navi growled, sounding choked up. "I lived a hundred years before the Deku Tree named you as my charge, you know that? All these years we've been together- fighting enemies, helping people...seeing you go from a ten-year-old to a seventeen-year-old overnight, as it seemed to us." She gave a watery chuckle. "I can't believe how much we've done together since we met, including this new adventure. So much in such a short period of time." She cleared her throat. "The point is, in a century of my life, the few short years I've spent with you are the most fun I ever had."  
  
Link didn't trust himself to answer right away. "I know what you mean," he managed at last. "I'm going to miss you. Take care of everyone for me, all right, Navi?"  
  
"All right, Link." Nothing more was said, but Navi fluttered to perch on his shoulder, something she rarely did, as they rode on to Lon Lon Ranch.  
  
***  
  
To be continued. 


End file.
